In life, everything doesn’t always go according to plan! Almost 15 years ago, the tennis world was busy finding an answer to a very important question. Is Melanie Oudin, the successor of Venus and Serena Williams? The world fell in love with Oudin when she defeated the likes of big stars like Maria Sharapova at the 2009 US Open and secured her place in the QF of the major tournament. She became the youngest woman to accomplish this extraordinary feat since Serena Williams in 1999. However, her career didn’t last long enough, but she still remembers the way both Venus and Serena Williams inspired her in her tennis journey.
Melanie Oudin emerged as one of the top athletes in the racquet sport at that time, rising as high as number 31 in the world a year after that. She also became the third-best American woman after the Williams sisters. Oudin went on to win the mixed doubles titles at the US Open alongside Jack Sock in 2011, and then she won her first WTA title at the Aegon Classic in 2012. However, she was plagued by a series of injuries and a heart arrhythmia that kept her far away from returning to the level that she once reached.
She ultimately took the decision to retire from her beloved sport exactly 8 years after her historic run at the 2009 US Open. Recently, this WTA star appeared on the Inside-In Podcast and during the podcast, she was asked about her tennis upbringing. Replying to that the 33-year-old American said, “It’s really funny because now I’m coaching and back in the day you know when I started my grandma started, my twin sister and I at just our neighborhood courts and it was always my dream to become a pro tennis player. I mean I watched Venus and Serena when was really young on TV playing at Wimbledon and the US Open.“
Although she never got the chance to play against either Venus or Serena Williams, still these two tennis legends made a significant impact in helping her build a love for the game. Further reflecting on what she felt after seeing the Williams sisters play, she added, “I told my mom that I wanted to be there one day playing on those courts and I really was one of those players who wasn’t the necessarily the most athletic or the most talented but I really did work harder than everybody and it really was like as you said like perseverance and work ethic. All of that played such a big part in my tennis career and that’s what I think was really how I made it.“
We salute @melanie_oudin on a fantastic career & wish her the best as she steps away from professional tennis.
— USTA (@usta) August 19, 2017
She was active on the Tour for nine years, but she wanted to stay for a bit more! Melanie Oudin never made it to another Grand Slam QF after her heroics in 2009. How difficult was it for her to accept her retirement from the sport which was a big part of her life?
“I never, ever thought I would retire before Venus and Serena (Williams)” – Melanie Oudin
Once during an interview, Melanie Oudin spoke about how much pressure she had to deal with after her incredible performance at the 2009 US Open. People used to call the future of US tennis and guess what? Oudin was only 17 at that time! Speaking on those things she once revealed, “There were no other Americans coming up then. None. It was like Serena and Venus Williams and me. And people were looking at me to step up. People were telling me all the time, ‘You’re going to be the next best American!’ It was a lot.“
However, it didn’t go as per her plans, and injuries took away a significant amount of precious time from her career. What were her initial thoughts on her retirement? “I never, ever thought I would retire before Venus and Serena (Williams),” said Oudin. How difficult was it for her to accept all of this after launching her career in such an emphatic manner?
In reply to this during a previous interview, Melanie Oudin said, “Making the decision to retire was really hard for me.” She spoke about how much she struggled with the decision for nearly over six months. Oudin felt as if it was almost like “an identity crisis.” She wondered what she’d do after her retirement and then after some time, she found her niche off the court. “I realized that I needed to be patient and take some time to try a bunch of different things,” said Oudin. From being a potential successor of Venus Williams and Serena Williams to bringing an early end to her career, Melanie Oudin has seen it all! Share your thoughts on her tennis journey.
