American teenager Melanie Oudin continued her astonishing U.S. Open giant- killing run on Monday, eliminating 13th seed Nadia Petrova in three sets to reach the quarterfinals.
Oudin, ranked 70th in the world, has become the darling of the Flushing Meadows crowd, and she captivated the audience once again with a thrilling 1-6 7-6 6-3 success. “I didn’t think I started off too well and Nadia served unbelievable, but I stayed in there with her in the second set. “She gave me a few free points and I got my confidence and then I believed I could do it,” Oudin, 17, told reporters after completing her third comeback win in a row The win has made Oudin the youngest American to reach the last eight since Serena Williams 10 years ago, proving that her victories over Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva were no fluke.
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“It was tough. She was all over me. I kept fighting and I got that break and I’m so happy that I won,” added Oudin, her voice breaking with joy. “I’m so glad to be in my first grand slam quarterfinal.” Meanwhile, in another fourth-round match, Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko, crushed Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 6-0 6-0 in just 47 minutes to avenge the South American’s second-round defeat of her older sister Alona. Bondarenko will now play Belgian teenager Yanina Wickmayer, who beat Czech Petra Kvitova — the conqueror of top seed Dinara Safina — 4-6 6-4 7-5 for a place in the semifinals.
