Melanie Oudin makes winning US Open start
Last year’s US Open giant-killer Melanie Oudin is off to a winning start at this year’s tournament, defeating qualifier Olga Savchuk in the first round.
After a closely contested start to the match, the American teenager pulled away from her Ukrainian opponent to claim the 6-3, 6-0 victory and get the ball rolling in New York in 2010.
In the 56 minutes it took Oudin to win the match, she produced 20 winners to her opponent’s three, and nine unforced errors to Savchuk’s 15 in an opening match on centre court that followed the script almost to the letter.
Oudin became American tennis’ newest darling at Flushing Meadows last year when, aged just 17, she won her way past fellow teen Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round then completed come-from-behind victories over three more Russians in Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova on her way to the quarter-finals, where eventual runner-up Caroline Wozniacki ended her surprise run.
The 12-months since have been much harder work for Oudin, who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 31 earlier this year before her form tailed off. She entered this year’s US Open as the world No. 43, and on a four match losing streak.
Oudin is joined on the winners list early on day one at Flushing Meadows by French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who completed a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Japan’s Ayumi Morita in less than an hour.
British No. 1 Elena Baltacha reversed her Wimbledon result against Petra Martic with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in her first-round match today, while 12th-seeded Dementieva is also on the winners list after claiming a 6-1, 6-2 victory over world No. 51 Olga Govortsova in her first-round match.
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