Having won hearts with Tennis, now Oudin wins with boyfriend

Sept 8 (IBNS) Melanie Oudin won the hearts of fellow Americans not only with her on court prowess, but with her candid unabashed admission of boyfriend.

Her Cinderella story continued to unfold as she overcame Nadia Petrova after being a set down cdontinuing her dream run in the US Open. Oudin, 17, who has already ousted former U.S. Open champ Maria Sharapova and 4th-seeded Elena Dementieva, now advances to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open.

The latest American teenage sensation at 17 years is not to say she has 15-year-old boyfriend. Austin Smith, her 15-year-old boyfriend, who joined Oudin in New York along with her family, takes credit for the sneakers. He told the New York Times that Oudin wanted to stand apart from other pros by putting a mantra on her shoes rather than a nickname.

“For me, it’s all about that,” Oudin said in the Times. “It’s believing that I can beat these girls.”

After her win over Petrova she said, “I didn’t think I started off to well,” she said on TV after her victory on Monday. “I stayed in there with her in the second set . . . and gained my confidence, believing I could do it and I did it. It was tough. She was all over me,” she told an interviewer of her veteran opponent.

Oudin entered the tournament ranked 70th and is the youngest American to reach the quarterfinals since Serena Williams did so 10 years ago.

[By Arindam Basu]