When Melanie Oudin beat Maria Sharapova as a wildcard entry at the 2009 US Open, you felt, watching from home, that you were witnessing the start of something historic. The American was just 17 and entirely unknown, having turned professional the previous year. She was the youngest player to reach the tournament’s quarter-final since Serena Williams a decade before. Though Oudin went on to lose to Caroline Wozniacki, she was breathlessly hailed as the next big talent in the women’s game and the endorsement deals and photo shoots rolled in.
For nearly a year Oudin received the A-list treatment that, within the world of women’s sport, is unique to tennis. At the time, I was a teenage player reaching the peak of my career, and obsessively consumed everything about Oudin: the interviews, the YouTube clips and analysis. My peers and I mimicked Oudin’s on-court stealth and her intense “Come on!”, and adopted her signature tiered ponytail.
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