Oudin Impresses on Grass

Melanie Oudin has secured her first WTA Tour title and, following her victory at the AEGON Classic.

The American came through qualifying in Birmingham, and went on to secure the grass-court event, beating two seeds in the process. Having defeated eighth seed, Ekaterina Makarova in the semi-finals, Oudin saw off the sixth seed, Jelena Jankovic, in straight sets, 6-4 6-2.

The victory was made all the more impressive by the fact that both finalists had to win two matches on Sunday, due to the rain-affected schedule, before the final on Monday. The 20-year-old Oudin looked fresher than her opponent, who is seven years older, and eventually came out on top after one hour and 35 minutes on court.

Oudin will now target a strong run at Wimbledon, despite being a 500/1 shot in the tennis betting offers on Bet365.

The American had already been handed a wildcard for Wimbledon and will now go to SW19 full of confidence, after her tournament success. Fans of live tennis will be hoping that she can pull off an upset against her more experienced opponents.

Oudin, who is ranked 122 in the world, admits that she “loves playing on grass” and feels like her game has come on, after dropping outside the top 200 for a spell.

The Fed Cup player said: “I think I’m a lot more mature now, and a lot smarter. I’ve learned a lot about the game of tennis, about my game, and how I want to play; what I’m capable of. I’ve learned to play within myself, not try to do more than I can.”

Oudin will be making her fourth appearance at Wimbledon, which has been her best Grand Slam event to date.
Her best run in south-west London came in 2009; she reached the fourth round, before losing to 11th seed, Agnieszka Radwanska. Last year, Ana Ivanovic beat her in the first round. However, Oudin did reach the second round of the French Open, last month, before losing to eventual finalist, Sara Errani.