10 September,2009 09:43 AM IST | | AFP
Midnight struck for US Open "Cinderella" Melanie Oudin with a quarter-final loss on Wednesday ending a dream Grand Slam run that served notice the 17-year-old American's fairy-tale has only just begun
Danish ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki defeated the 70th-ranked giant killer 6-2, 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium to conclude a week where Oudin went from anonymity to become the darling of Flushing Meadows.
| Caroline Wozniacki |
"These past two weeks have been have been really different," Oudin said. "I've gone from being just a normal tennis player to almost everyone in the United States knowing who I am now."
The spunky teen ousted former World No 1 Maria Sharapova, fourth seed Elena Dementieva and 13th seed Nadia Petrova at the US Open after eliminating former World No 1 Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon this year.
Suddenly "Melanie-mania" struck Broadway. She was mobbed for autographs in practice, by new fans when she walked down the street in Times Square and even saw her family doing television interviews as she fought for normalcy.
"I don't think of myself as a celebrity at all, just because it's me. I just love to play tennis. That's it," Oudin said.
"I love people watching me. I guess people knowing who I am would make me a celebrity and people would want to be like me and admire me and stuff. I think that's really nice, but I just don't see myself as being that kind of star."
Her view might change soon. She still plans to play next week in Quebec before heading for events in Tokyo and Beijing. Her head was still spinning over meeting Roger Federer and beating Sharapova.
Oudin was a spectacular escape artist, three times rallying to win after dropping the first set. The pint-sized blonde pixie was tenacious when trailing and showed grit against some of the game's top players.
"Getting a set down in all of these matches, that I knew that I could come back and I could do it, it gives me a lot of confidence," Oudin said.
"The whole experience of being here has been a whirlwind. There have been so many great things I've learned from here and the experiences, the matches I've played, I'll remember all of it."
While some have parlayed their tennis into careers well beyond the courts, Oudin is just hoping to make sure fame doesn't distract from the sport.
"The thing for me is I love to play tennis, and that all comes along with it if you do well and if you win," she said. "I'm ready for that if that's what you have to do to do well in tennis, because I'm not going to stop playing just because of that."
Oudin also counts upon the fact that this is the start of her learning curve.
"There are ups and downs to all of it," she said. "I haven't had to handle anything like that before. So I'm sure that I'll get used to it. This was a good starting point for me, though, like learning about it and seeing how it will be like if you keep doing well."
