Oudin Rises, Falls in a New York Minute

NEW YORK -- Photographers were fighting, actually fighting, to try to get a photo of Melanie Oudin a few days ago in Times Square, a place that's basically a frantic rush of colors, shapes, people and humanity anyway.

Every aspect of her life has already been analyzed. We know about her boyfriend. She doesn't go to prom because she goes to school online. We know what's written on her shoes: Believe.

She was such a hot ticket in New York Wednesday at the U.S. Open, that people couldn't quite funnel into Arthur Ashe Stadium, the biggest tennis stadium in the world, fast enough.

Things got tense. It was a night match on national TV, and when Oudin lost the first set, ESPN already had a poll up about whether she could come back. Sixty-one percent yes, 39 no.

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Too much. Just too much for Oudin. She lost 6-2, 6-2. She lost by blowout in the quarterfinals of the Open to No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki.

Ten days ago, Oudin wasn't known. By Thursday, she was a national treasure playing a major national sporting event.

"The thing for me is I love to play tennis, and that all comes with it if you play well," she said. "I'm sure I'll get used to it. This was a good starting point. "These past two weeks were really different for me. But, I mean, I enjoyed it. I don't think that affected my tennis game tonight at all."

Oh yes it did. Let's be honest: It crushed her. And I'm a little torn here, because on one hand you feel a little bad for having all of this thrown at her, our celebrity culture chewing up and spitting out a 17-year-old kid. But you know, for some reason, that's not really hitting me right now. I haven't seen anyone or anything that was unfair to Oudin.

Instead, this just shows the stage she was playing on, and the reaction to a come-from-nowhere American teen sensation. And the great thing is that she didn't think it was unfair, either.

John McEnroe picked her to get to the finals Wednesday. Three-hundred people watched her warm up on a practice court Tuesday. Roger Federer introduced himself to her.

"He told me congratulations," she said. "I was going to tell him congratulations, too, and I totally forgot that he just had twin girls and all that stuff."

Stuff like winning a French Open and breaking the record for most major titles.

"My mind just kind of froze."

Just too much.

And keep in mind that Wozniacki might have ended the run, but she can't possibly be seen as the bad guy. She played the crowd perfectly after the match, praising Oudin, smiling and saying, "I'm sorry that I won against Melanie today. Hopefully, I won many of you guys' hearts."

Wozniacki is a teenager herself, only 19. And she's already a top-10 player.

At the start of the match, Oudin couldn't do anything. Could not get the ball on the court. She even seemed a little cranky. Down 3-0 in the first set, she won a point on a 27-shot rally, yelled "Come on" and got into the match for the first time.

If she had any hope of another one of her comebacks -- she had lost the first set against top players in each of her past three matches -- it came at 2-all in the second set, with Wozniacki serving. The game had five deuces, with Oudin making an unforced error on her backhand on a break point.

When she lost her serve in the next game, it was over.

The thing is, Oudin made a run by beating big, strong, powerful Russians, who take chances. Oudin would get in their heads by mixing up paces and spins, and when the Russian player would feel any tension at all, Oudin was there for the kill. The Russian style didn't match well with Oudin's.

Wozniacki, from Denmark, took way fewer chances, didn't let Oudin wait for mistakes, and looped the ball with heavy topspin, bouncing it over the 5-foot-6 American's head. She also kept her temper in control, saying she had seen Oudin jump on players when she senses them getting emotional.

Basically, Oudin had nothing to feed on. So that was the match. But the 10 days was really a study in sudden celebrity, in the biggest event in the biggest arena in the biggest city.

Will it hurt Oudin for the long run? No. It's going to help her, prepare her.

This shell-shocking was a one-time thing. I loved Oudin's reaction to this. She sees it as another challenge. She recognized that the tournament had been an incredible run for her, but left the court angry for losing. She was not just happy to be here.

< Tennis still has its new American teen sensation. Oudin is for real, with the running forehand, smarts, foot speed and grit. But it's not going to come in the form of a miracle.

"I never thought that I'd play Maria Sharapova on Arthur Ashe Stadium at the U.S. Open this year," she said. "Definitely did not see that coming. That whole match, just getting to play her and beating her ...

"Shaking her hand after the match was the first time I'd met her. It was crazy.

"The whole thing, though, I loved it. I'll remember all of it."

She won't be the only one. But she left the court in tears. Not from losing, just because this was simply too much. This time.

E-mail me at gregcouch09@aol.com