For some reason, a lot of young players from all nations took the courts for early round action at Indian Wells. Of course, probably the biggest anticipation was for Melanie Oudin who was making her return to a big event in the States after her storybook U.S. Open quarterfinal run back in September.
Unfortunately for the young star, she’ll have to keep the story going elsewhere as she took a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 first round loss to Italy’s Roberta Vinci.
Consistency and lack of a big weapon is still proving to be an issue for Oudin. If clay is her best surface, as she claims, maybe we are in for a treat from Oudin in the next few months.
With one “phenom” out of the event, it was time to quickly find another. So how about Ryan Harrison, the 17-year-old out of Shreveport, Louisiana who used his wildcard status to his advantage by winning over his doubles partner Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-4. After his win, it was quickly noted that Harrison is the first 17-year-old to win a match at the event since Rafael Nadal did it back in 2004.
Why is it that anytime a young American player has a good win in a big event, parallels are quickly drawn to other young champions like Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, or even Rafael Nadal? It’s easy to do but it adds unneeded pressure and expectation on these kids to live up to hype they didn’t create. I get that the U.S. is hungry for another star since many feel the clock is starting to run out for Andy Roddick, Venus Williams, and maybe Serena Williams in awhile, but we’ve got some time.
Meanwhile, Oudin’s got her own expectations placed on her. Her new sponsorship deal with Virgin Mobile has the company offering to give $1 million dollars to homeless youth organizations so long as Oudin wins next year’s U.S. Open. How’s that for pressure on the young star? But as Billie Jean King said, “pressure is a privilege”.
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