Troy University Athletics
Who's Next? USTA Classic Next Month
9/8/2009 1:45:00 PM | Tennis
TROY, Ala. - The USTA Tennis Classic of Troy returns to the Lunsford Tennis Complex next month, and the tournament name is becoming famous as one of its alum has made a major splash this summer on the WTA circuit.
Last year, Melanie Oudin reached the semifinals of the USTA Tennis Classic at Troy before falling as a 16-year old. Now, at the age of 17, she has reached a career milestone on one of the biggest stages of them all - the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open after defeating three ranked and highly-publicized players.
Oudin, who was ranked near 200 when she played in the tournament in Troy, is now ranked 70th in the world and will face ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark for a spot in the semifinals.
She defeated fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva to start her run of three consecutive victories over ranked Russian players. She dispatched of the fourth best player in the world in in three sets after dropping the first, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to move into the third round. Oudin dispatched one of more famous names in women's tennis to this date, defeating 29th-seeded Maria Sharapova in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 to reach her second Round of 16 in a major this season. Next up for Oudin was 13th-seeded Nadia Petrova, whom she defeated in three sets 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals. The 17-year old is now the youngest American to make the quarterfinals since Venus Williams.
The youngster has played four Russians in the first four rounds of the U.S. Open, defeating unseeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the opening round, 6-1, 6-2. Oudin has done all of this after making a name for herself earlier this year when she reached the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.
So, who will be next? Come to the Lunsford Tennis Complex October 4-11 for your chance to see the next rising star for the United States on the WTA circuit.
