Melanie Oudin

Personal life

Oudin, a Marietta, Georgia native, has a twin sister, Katherine, and a younger sister, Christina. Introduced to the sport at the age of seven alongside sister Katherine, it was clear Melanie had a gift. As Melanie continued to improve, her time spent on the court increased as well. In seventh grade, Melanie made the decision to homeschool, giving her more time on the practice courts and an opportunity to play more tournaments. In an article with Atlanta Magazine Oudin said, "If I was going to homeschool, I was going to try to go pro for sure”. While the decision proved to be very beneficial for her career, Oudin admits envying her twin sister's experiences at a regular school. She says her idol is Justine Henin because "she proved you don't have to be tall to win things." Her grandmother inspired her and her sister to play tennis when she gave them racquets and lessons when they were young.

2008–09: Breakthrough in WTA, US Open quarterfinal, and top-50 ranking

Oudin turned professional in February 2008. In April 2008, she received a wildcard at the WTA tournament in Miami where she lost in the first round to Tathiana Garbin in three sets. In August, Oudin received a wildcard into her first Grand Slam main draw at the US Open. She was defeated by Australian Jessica Moore 7-6, 7-6.

In October that year, Oudin participated in the 2008 Bell Challenge in Quebec City. In the first round, she defeated third seed Sybille Bammer, 6–4, 3–6, 7–5. In the second round, she defeated Russian Olga Puchkova, 6–1, 7–6. Reaching her first WTA quarterfinals, she was defeated by sixth seed Bethanie Mattek, 7-6, 6-1.

Oudin began 2009 by qualifying for the main draw of the Australian Open. She was then defeated in the first round by Akgul Amanmuradova, 6-1, 6-4.

At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Oudin entered as a qualifier. Oudin defeated No. 29 Sybille Bammer in three sets in the first round and Yaroslava Shvedova in three sets in the second. In the third round, Oudin defeated world No. 6 Jelena Janković, 6–7, 7–5, 6–2. She lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the fourth round, 6-4, 7-5.

At the 2009 US Open, Oudin entered as a wildcard. In her first-round match, she easily defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6–1, 6–2. In the second round, she stunned fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva, 5–7, 6–4, 6–3, in her Arthur Ashe Stadium debut. Then in the third round, she defeated a resurgent Maria Sharapova, 3–6, 6–4, 7–5. At 17 years of age, Oudin reached the fourth round of a major event for the second consecutive time. In the fourth round, she played another Russian, 13th-seeded Nadia Petrova. She defeated Petrova, 1–6, 7–6, 6–3, to reach the quarterfinals of the event. She became the youngest woman since Serena Williams in 1999 to reach the quarter-finals at the US Open, and the youngest since Maria Sharapova to reach the quarter-finals at a Major. Her Cinderella story ended when ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki defeated her, 6-2, 6-2. A standing ovation occurred when Oudin was leaving the court. After the US Open, Oudin's ranking rose into the top 50. This was Oudin's first top-50 appearance on the tour.

2010: Steady form

At the 2010 Australian Open, Oudin was defeated, 6–2, 5–7, 5–7, by Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round.

After rallying from a set and 1–3 down, Oudin defeated Ágnes Szávay to reach her first semifinal of a WTA tour event at the 2010 Open GDF Suez in Paris. She then fell in three sets to world No. 7 Elena Dementieva, in a rematch of the US Open second round. At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Oudin was the second seed. She lost in the quarterfinals to Sofia Arvidsson. At the 2010 French Open, Oudin made an early exit by losing 2–6, 5–7 to Anabel Medina Garrigues in the first round. At Wimbledon, Oudin reached the second round, before losing to Jarmila Groth. Oudin reached the second round at the US Open, before losing to Alona Bondarenko, 2–6, 5–7.

2011: Singles downfall, mixed-doubles Grand Slam title

In January, she obtained an invitation to play at the 2011 Hong Kong Tennis Classic with compatriots Venus Williams and John McEnroe. At the 2011 Moorilla Hobart International, Oudin was defeated in the 1st round by 5th seed Klára Zakopalová 6-3, 7-6(3). In the 1st round of the 2011 Australian Open, she lost to Czech Klára Zakopalová 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

In the Fed Cup tie against Belgium, Oudin lost her 1st rubber to Kim Clijsters 6-0, 6-4. In her final rubber, she was defeated by Yanina Wickmayer 6-2, 6-0. Belgium reached the semifinals at the Fed Cup defeating the USA 4-1. Oudin got her first win of the year at the 2011 Open GDF Suez, where she beat Vera Dushevina in the 1st round 7–5, 5–7, 6–2. In the second round, Oudin lost to 8th seed Dominika Cibulková of Slovakia 6-4, 7-6(5). Having reached the semifinals the year before, Oudin's ranking dropped from No. 61 to No. 72. Oudin's next tournament was the 2011 Cellular South Cup in Memphis. Seeded 3rd, she won her 1st round match against Anastasia Pivovarova of Russia 6–4, 6–0. In the 2nd round, she faced Russian Evgeniya Rodina, only to lose 6–1, 7–5. Oudin was unable to defend her quarterfinal points from last year and therefore saw her ranking fall from No. 72 to No. 81. At the 2011 Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Oudin retired from her 1st round match against qualifier Lesia Tsurenko. Ranked 82 at the 2011 Monterrey Open, Oudin won her 1st round match over fellow American Vania King 6-4, 6-1. She was defeated in the 2nd round by 2nd seed and eventual champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 7-6(6). Ranked 84 at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, Oudin won her 1st round match over Elena Vesnina 7-6(2), 6-2. She was eliminated in the 2nd round by 23rd seed Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 6-3. Moving on to the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open, Oudin started the tournament well with a 1st round win over Julia Görges 7-5, 6-3. She was defeated in the 2nd round by 29th seed Daniela Hantuchová 6-1, 6-3.

Oudin began her clay court season at the 2011 Family Circle Cup. She lost in the 1st round to Tamira Paszek 6-1, 7-5. In the 2011 Fed Cup World Group Play-offs tie versus Germany, Oudin lost both of her rubbers to Julia Görges 6-2, 7-6(5) and Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-3. Germany defeated the USA 5-0. As a result, the USA was out of the World Group for the 1st time. Ranked 93 at the 2011 Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Oudin upset 3rd seed Lourdes Domínguez Lino in the 1st round 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. She reached the quarterfinals when her 2nd round opponent, Polona Hercog, withdrew due to an ankle injury. In the quarterfinals, Oudin lost to eventual champion Alberta Brianti 7-5, 5-7, 6-0. At the 2011 Estoril Open, Oudin lost in the 1st round to qualifier and fellow American Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-1. Competing in her final tournament before the French Open at the 2011 Internationaux de Strasbourg, Oudin was defeated in the 1st round by 7th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-1. Ranked 88 at the 2011 French Open, Oudin lost in the 1st round to 5th seed and defending champion Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-0.

Oudin started her grass court season at the 2011 Aegon Trophy. Seeded 4th, she lost in the 2nd round to fellow American Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-4. At the 2011 e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open, a tournament that is not on grass, Oudin was defeated in the 1st round by Michaëlla Krajicek 6-1, 7-5. Playing qualifying at the 2011 Aegon International, Oudin lost in the final round of qualifying to Jie Zheng 6-1, 6-4. Ranked 87 at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Oudin was defeated in the 1st round by 18th seed Ana Ivanovic 6-0, 6-1.

As the top seed at the 2011 Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships, Oudin was defeated in the 1st round by Chanel Simmonds 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3. Oudin started her US Open series by competing at the 1st edition of the 2011 Citi Open. She lost in the 1st round to 3rd seed Tamira Paszek 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-2. At the 2011 Mercury Insurance Open, Oudin was crushed in the 1st round by Elena Baltacha 6-0, 6-1. Oudin lost in the 1st round of qualifying at the 2011 Rogers Cup and the 2011 Western & Southern Open to 5th seed Bojana Jovanovski 6-4, 6-2 and 15th seed Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1, 6-4. In her next tournament, Oudin received a wildcard entry into the singles main draw at the 1st edition of the 2011 Texas Tennis Open. In the 1st round, she was up against Lucky Loser Akgul Amanmuradova. Oudin was leading 7-6(6) 1-0 when her opponent retired due to a lower back injury. In the 2nd round, she lost to qualifier Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-2. Ranked 113 at the 2011 US Open, Oudin lost in the 1st round to qualifier Romina Oprandi 6-0, 7-6(7). However, in mixed doubles, she and Jack Sock captured the mixed doubles title defeating the 8th seeded Argentine pairing of Gisela Dulko and Eduardo Schwank in the final 7–6 (4), 4–6, 10–8.

At the 2011 Challenge Bell, Oudin was defeated in the 1st round by Andrea Hlaváčková 6-1, 6-3. Seeded 7th at the 2011 Coleman Vision Tennis Championships, Oudin lost in the 2nd round to eventual champion Regina Kulikova 6-4, 6-4. Playing at the 2011 Lexus of Las Vegas Open, Oudin fell in the 1st round to Sesil Karatantcheva 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-0.

Oudin played her final tournament of the year at the 2011 USTA Tennis Classic of Troy. Seeded 5th, she lost in the 1st round to Sesil Karatantcheva 6-1, 6-3.

Oudin ended the year ranked 139.

2012: Inconsistency, 1st WTA singles title

At the beginning of the season, Oudin lost in the 1st round of qualifying at the 2012 Australian Open to Laura Robson.

Oudin qualified for the 2012 Family Circle Cup losing in the first round to 10th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. On April 29th, she won the ITF 50k 2012 Boyd Tinsley Women's Clay Court Classic defeating 2nd seed and fellow American Irina Falconi in the final 7-6(0), 3-6, 6-1. She was awarded the USTA French Open Wild Card an account of her performance in the USTA Pro Circuit. At the 2012 French Open, Oudin drew Johanna Larsson of Sweden in the 1st round. She won 6–3, 6–3. It was her first win ever at the French Open. In the second round, she lost to 21st seed and eventual finalist Sara Errani of Italy 6–2, 6–3.

Oudin began her grass court season at the 2012 Aegon Trophy. After qualifying for the main draw, Oudin lost in the 1st round to Heather Watson 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5). Next, Oudin competed at the 2012 Aegon Classic. She qualified for the main draw beating 8th seed Bibiane Schoofs and 16th seed Gail Brodsky. In the main draw, Oudin advanced to her 1st WTA fina defeating 10th seed Sorana Cîrstea, qualifier Michelle Larcher De Brito, Elena Vesnina, Irina Falconi, and 8th seed Ekaterina Makarova. The tournament was filled with rain delays and Oudin had to cope with the difficulty of coming off and on the court. She then defeated 5th seed Jelena Janković 6–4, 6–2 in the final to win her 1st WTA Title. Winning the tournament bumped up her ranking from 208 to 122. Her performance earned her a wildcard at Wimbledon. At the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, she was given one of seven wildcard entries into the main draw. In the first round, she lost to World Number 69 Tímea Babos of Hungary in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

At the US Open on August 27, number 107 ranked Oudin was unseeded and lost to fifteenth seed Lucie Šafářová of the Czech Republic in straight sets 4–6, 0–6. In the Women's Doubles, she also lost in the first round teaming up with Grace Min.

With the 2012 season coming to a close, Oudin played several tournaments on the ITF tour. At the National Bank Challenger Saguenay 50k in Canada, she advanced to the semi-finals before losing to Eugenie Bouchard 2–6, 2–6. At the John Newcombe Women's Pro Challenge in New Braunfels, Texas, she defeated wildcard Victoria Duval in the first round. With wins over Ulrikke Eikeri and Madison Keys, she made it to the final where she defeated Mariana Duque 6–1, 6–1. In this tournament, Oudin didn't drop a set.

2013 to present

In 2013, Oudin played in the Australian Open where she lost in the first round of qualifying to Laura Robson in straight sets. At the French Open, she won her first-round match over Tamira Paszek, before losing in the second round to Zheng Jie in straight sets. At Wimbledon, she lost in the first round to Michelle Larcher de Brito. Oudin did not play in the main draw of the US Open, losing in the first round of qualifying to Elena Baltacha.

In 2014, Oudin failed to qualify for any Grand Slam tournament. In singles, her best result was reaching the final of an ITF event; in doubles she won one tournament with Jan Abaza.

In 2015, Oudin did not play in any tournament until Wimbledon qualifying. Here, she won her first match against Akgul Amanmuradova, before a straight-set loss to Wang Yafan in the second round.

In 2016, Oudin played mainly on the ITF tour. Exceptions were the qualifying tournaments of the Charleston Open (lost in the first round), the French Open (reached the second round), and the US Open (reached the second round).

Fed Cup

Oudin played singles in the United States' Fed Cup tie against Argentina in February 2009, losing her first match against Gisela Dulko, but winning the second match against Betina Jozami in three sets.

In November 2009, Oudin lost both of her matches (against Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone) in the championship round of the 2009 Fed Cup.

In the 2010 Fed Cup, Oudin led the USA to a 4–1 victory over France by defeating Pauline Parmentier and Julie Coin. Against Russia, Oudin then defeated Alla Kudryavtseva in her first singles match, while losing to Elena Dementieva in her second match. Her team still advanced to the final in San Diego. Contrary to expectations, lower ranked Coco Vandeweghe was chosen over Oudin for the first singles match against Francesca Schiavone. After the US team lost both matches on the first day, Oudin replaced Bethanie Mattek-Sands for the third singles match against Schiavone and won 6–3, 6–1. This kept her team in contention, but proved futile since Vandeweghe lost the next match against Flavia Pennetta. In the 2011 Fed Cup World Group tie against Belgium, Oudin lost both her singles matches against Kim Clijsters and Yanina Wickmayer. In April, she also lost her two matches in the 2011 Fed Cup World Group Play-offs where the US dropped out of the World Group for the first time since its formation in 1995.