She slays Russians

She's done it again! First Dementieva and now Sharpova! Melanie Oudin, the story of the first week of the U.S. Open, beat Maria Sharapova today: 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. And, as Tennis magazine's Tom Perrotta noted on Twitter: "Add this to the long, long list of things to like about Melanie Oudin: No noise. Maybe she'll start a trend."

Much already has been written about the pink and yellow tennis shoes Oudin sports (which she designed), in which the word "Believe" is inscribed on the side of the shoes. There's no way to make a beautiful segue here, but I played doubles today, and experienced firsthand that kind of belief ... fleetingly. My partner and I were up 5-4 in the first set. We were playing very well. She was solid on the back court and I was doing well at the net. So, what happened? We dropped the next three games, losing the first set 5-7. Then we proceeded to go away, in sports parlance, and lost the second set 2-6. Really painful, because I now believe that we could have won the match. So much to learn by losing. Am looking forward to seeing Oudin take on another Russian, Nadia Petrova.

What a stunner!

How thrilling it is to see young American, Melanie Oudin, in action. I just finished watching her play -- and beat -- Elena Dementieva, who is seeded fourth at the U.S. Open. The 17-year-old, 5'6" Oudin, who hails from Marietta, Georgia, is incredibly match-tough and seems to love the big stage. She beat Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon earlier this year.

Oudin lost the first (5-7) set and came back to win the second 6-4. Oudin is ranked 70 in the world (and the third ranked American woman after #2 Serena and #3 Venus), but she's coming up. Oudin had her thigh taped, and it gave her trouble as she headed toward the finish line in the third set. At one point, she was obviously in so much pain she was trying to defend against tears. However, she was able to keep Dementievia on the ropes (the Russian was playing defensively but not poorly the whole time) and persevered, winning the final point on an ace and the third set at 6-3. A totally victory. Sharapova awaits in the next round. In any event, we've got a new exciting American woman who seems likely to rise through the ranks. At last!