Oudin/ Sock defeat Dulko/ Eduardo to lift Mixed Doubles title – US Open 2011
Friday afternoon saw the final of the mixed doubles event between un-seeded Americans, Melanie Oudin with Jack Sock against the number eighth seeded Gisela Dulko and Eduardo Schwank, representing Argentina. On Arthur Ashe stadium the two teams battled it out until finally the American team took the crown surviving a midsummer lapse of 7-6(4), 4-6, 10-8
As the two teams walked on the court, the crowd cheered for their home stars and after winning the pitch they opened the score board at 1-0. Dulko/ Schwank held their serve in the second game and in the third broke their opponents to take a mini lead of 2-1. Not wanting the Argentinean team to take an upper hand, the American squad broke back in the fourth game. The two teams then kept on winning on their serves in the following seven games and as the two teams were neck in neck, Dulko and Eduardo held their serve in the twelfth game to push the set into a tie breaker.
Having picked up steam in the first set, Oudin and Sock continued to match the Argentinean tango in the tiebreaker. Going head-to-head, both teams made slow progress with neither allowing the other any margin. Keeping the score tied for the first 8 points, Oudin and Sock finally lashed out as they capitalised on a mini-break to take the lead. Reeling off three straight points with one break of serve, the American couple wrapped up the tiebreaker 7-4 and sealed their set victory.
After taking a beating in the first serve the Argentinean team was back on track and ready to take down anything that came their way. Opening the second set were again Oudin and Sock, as the players kept winning on their serves in the first eight games, the players were toe-to-toe in their games and in the ninth game as Oudin and Sock were serving Dulko/ Schwank seized the first opportunity to break their opponents by smashing a forehand winner and took a lead of 5-4. Dulko/ Schwank were now serving for the set and as they smashed three successive aces, they won the game without much opposition and the second set.
By the end of the second set the players had bagged a set apiece and the match then went into a super tie breaker. During the tie breaker, Oudin and Sock broke serve early on, and rushed to a 3-0 lead. The two teams’ blow for a blow dash carried on well into the tie breaker though at times each of the pair managed to border into a mini-lead only to have it stolen back by their opponents. As the prevailing aces and stunning winners carried on, the teams pushed the scoreboard to advance on even terms all the way to eight points each. Oudin and Sock led 9-8 as they held their serve, looking for a mini break to serve out the match. As Dulko pushed a backhand over the baseline the American team got that break clinched the Grand Slam title.
Although, it was a close match between the two teams, the crowd boosted team America’s performance and with all the support they could get, Oudin and Sock stood with their heads held high as they claimed their accolade.
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