New Darling of Tennis

Source: Google Images

She is just seventeen but can beat the best on her day! She is ranked seventy in the world and third in America after Williams sisters.

She has just shocked Elena Dementieva (The Olympic Gold Medalist) and Maria Sharapova (US Open Champion - 06, Wimbledon Champion - 04) in the current US open and is now going to take on Nadia Petrova in the round of 16. Guess she has taken a liking to the ova's and eva's of Tennis.

Even though I was rooting for Maria Sharapova and was very disappointed that she didn't win, the three hour match made me stand up, applaud and congratulate the teen. It was an error-prone match for Sharapova. She committed around 65 unforced errors out of which 21 were double faults. She is seriously struggling with her serve. I hope she works on it and comes back strong in her next tournament.

We cannot take anything away from the teenager though. She has been playing her best tennis and achieving the results. Her agility in the court and strong forehand makes up for the power tennis that other players play. She is a fighter and a true American at heart.

Here's wishing her all the best for her next match. Hope she wins it! Irrespective of whether she wins her next match or not, the new darling of tennis has won herself a new fan!

She is none other than Melanie Oudin.

Addendum: There were two other noteworthy upsets yesterday. Both of them after I fell asleep :)
- Another teenager Petra Kvitova (19 years) has defeated the World No. 1 Dinara Safina. These upsets have made life easier for the Williams sisters and I hate to see them both in the finals. I hope there are two more upsets in the women's draw :)
- Andy Roddick has been shown the door in a five set thriller by an unseeded American John Isner.