Tennis Capsules: ”Believe”: Teen from Georgia stuns Dementieva

NEW YORK — It’s not quite the case that 17-year-old Melanie Oudin and her family knew for sure she would get this far, this fast.

Not when Melanie was 7, hitting buckets of tennis balls with Grandma Mimi back home in Marietta, Ga. Not a couple of years later, when Melanie and her twin sister began taking lessons together. And certainly not when Melanie lost her first two Grand Slam matches.

Still, there was Oudin at the U.S. Open on Thursday, ranked all of 70th, dealing with a painful leg and an overwhelming occasion on a supersized stage — and stunning No. 4-seeded Elena Dementieva 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 to set up a third-round match against 2006 champion Maria Sharapova.

All the while, Oudin sported this word stamped near the heel of her pink-and-yellow sneakers: "BELIEVE." The idea for that bit of inspiration came from her boyfriend, Austin Smith, a 15-year-old who helped Melanie prepare for her Arthur Ashe Stadium debut by practicing together in the 23,763-seat arena at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

"During the match, I had confidence, and, I mean, I was right there with her the entire time," Oudin said. "She wasn’t blowing me off the court. She wasn’t hitting winners left and right on me."

Don’t, though, get the mistaken idea that Dementieva played poorly or showed the sort of nerves she has in the past. Dementieva played rather well — displaying the stinging groundstrokes that carried her to two Grand Slam finals and an Olympic gold medal — and graciously gave credit to Oudin, who now will face the scrutiny that comes with being the "Next Great American Hope."

After the Williams sisters at No. 2 and 3, you have to scan all the way down to Oudin to find the next U.S. woman in the WTA rankings.

"It’s just the beginning," Dementieva cautioned, "but it looks like she has a good future."

Truth is, Oudin — pronounced "oo-DAN," owing to her father’s French ancestry — has a pretty good present, too. This was not, after all, her first such upset at a major tournament: Oudin reached the fourth round at Wimbledon by beating former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic.

"She knows," said Brian de Villiers, Oudin’s coach, "that she can play with these girls now."

Next comes what figures to be a stern test against three-time major champion Sharapova, who eliminated another 17-year-old American, Christina McHale of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 6-2, 6-1 at night. The 381st-ranked McHale was a wild-card entry who didn’t really challenge Sharapova.

Looking ahead to facing Oudin, Sharapova said: "I mean, I’ve got a tough round ahead of me. Also somebody that I’ve never played against before, someone that’s going to come out and, I’m sure, she’s going to swing and have nothing to lose — which she doesn’t."

Jankovic made another early departure from a Grand Slam event, losing to 55th-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6). Jankovic reached the U.S. Open final in 2008, and she was seeded No. 5 this year, but her head might not have been focused on the court on this day: Her grandmother died Wednesday night.

The losses by Dementieva and Jankovic mean half of the top 20 seeded women are out of the draw. No. 23 Sabine Lisicki also is gone, having left in tears as she was taken away in a wheelchair after injuring her ankle at the end of a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 defeat against Anastasia Rodionova.

No. 1 Dinara Safina nearly joined the parade of surprising exits, turning in her second poor performance of the week before hanging on to edge 67th-ranked Kristina Barrois of Germany 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.

"Another tough day in the office," said Safina, who double-faulted 15 times, including three in the tiebreaker. "There is no problem in the technique or nothing. Just in my head."

No seeded men lost Thursday, when the winners included 2007 runner-up Novak Djokovic and five Americans: No. 5 Andy Roddick, No. 21 James Blake, No. 22 Sam Querrey, 55th-ranked John Isner and 276th-ranked Jesse Witten.

Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and 2006 runner-up, beat Marc Gicquel of France 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 at night and now takes on the 6-foot-9 Isner.

French Open runner-up Robin Soderling advanced when his opponent, Marcel Granollers, quit during the third game with a back injury.

Oudin twice received treatment from a trainer for her lingering left leg injury. Late in the match, Oudin was blinking away tears, trying to push aside the injury — and trying to finish off Dementieva.

That injury, de Villiers said, forced Oudin to pull out of two hard-court tuneup events.

"But this is the U.S. Open," he said. "She ain’t going to give up anything. She’s going to play on one leg if she has to."

No matter what sort of message might have adorned Oudin’s shoes on this day, even her biggest fans did not think this level of success would arrive at this age.

"This is what she loves. She just loves it. She loves the game. She loves the atmosphere," Oudin’s mother, Leslie, said after giving her daughter a hug and a kiss outside the locker room. "I knew she’d always make the top 10 or 20. I did know that. But not now. Maybe when she hit 21 or something."

After Oudin’s first-round victory, her father, two siblings and grandmother flew home to Georgia. Mom stayed behind and shared in the joy of Thursday’s win via telephone. The best reaction came from Grandma Mimi: "Oh, my gosh! That little thing did it!"

Yes, she did.

Sharapova looks sharp in rout over McHale

NEW YORK — Maria Sharapova sat in her hotel room most of the day and watched the upsets go down.

It was not the greatest feeling.

"You don’t want to be that person," she said.

She wasn’t, thanks to a focused effort from the start Thursday night that resulted in a 6-2, 6-1 victory over 17-year-old American Christina McHale.

Next up for the 29th-seeded Russian, a meeting with another 17-year-old American, Melanie Oudin.

Oudin started the upset trend in Arthur Ashe Stadium earlier in the day by defeating No. 4 Elena Dementieva. A few hours later, No. 5 Jelena Jankovic lost on that court, too.

"I made sure from the beginning that I was really focused and concentrating on my job," Sharapova said, when asked how she avoided the same trap.

Walking onto the show court with the same, glittery black-and-silver dress she wore in the first round, Sharapova traded early breaks with McHale, who lives across the river in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

But before the New York crowd could get behind the hometown girl, Sharapova snuffed out all hope.

She won 16 of 18 points during one stretch and was never in real danger.

McHale said she saw Oudin win earlier in the day. Inspiring, she called it. But that only got her so far in her own match against one of the world’s most seasoned players.

"Some of the rallies, it was, ‘Yeah, this is OK, I’m in there,"’ McHale said. "And some of them were, ‘Wow, I still have a lot to work on."’

Sharapova has lost a total of six games in two matches, and though she is still working herself into shape after missing nearly 10 months with a shoulder injury, she almost has to be considered a contender for her fourth major title and second at the U.S. Open.

Dementieva and Jankovic were both on her side of the draw, as is No. 1 Dinara Safina, who has looked unimpressive in a pair of three-set victories.

The Williams sisters, meanwhile, are on the other side of the bracket.

But before thinking about that, Sharapova must focus on Oudin, who is ranked 70th, but now has Grand Slam wins over Dementieva and Jankovic on her resume.

They play Saturday, and Oudin could be that rare player who hears more cheers from the crowd than Sharapova, long a fan favorite at Flushing Meadows and everywhere else.

"I thought she played great tennis," Sharapova said of her next opponent. "To beat someone who’s been playing great all year long, and No. 4 in the world, it’s a darn good win. I expect to go out there and for her to play some of her best tennis."

-- Eddie Pells

Grieving Jankovic upset by Shvedova at U.S. Open

NEW YORK — Jelena Jankovic felt as though she couldn’t even watch the ball.

The night before, her beloved grandmother had died back home in Serbia. That’s where her heart and mind were Thursday, not on the No. 5 seed’s second-round match at the U.S. Open that ended with a loss to Yaroslava Shvedova.

"I was very sad and emotionally I was really not on court," Jankovic said. "I really tried my best to be there and to try to play, but it was really hard.

"You could see I was not happy on the court. I was really suffering. I tried to think about my tennis, but I felt like I was so late and so slow."

Shvedova, a 21-year-old from Kazakhstan, won 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6).

Jankovic planned to fly to Serbia on Friday to join her mother, who left New York on Wednesday to return home. Jankovic said she didn’t know many details after talking on the phone with her mother.

"I couldn’t really speak," she said. "I was just crying."

Shvedova had never defeated an opponent ranked higher than No. 15. She closed out the third-set tiebreaker with an ace after setting up match point with an overhead slam to end a long rally.

The 55th-ranked Shvedova also reached the third round at the French Open this year.

Jankovic lost in the final at Flushing Meadows in 2008, but the former top-ranked player has not advanced past the fourth round at a Grand Slam this year.

"When you are sad, when you are down, you’re not the same person," she said. "You don’t move as well. You don’t hit the ball as well. My head wasn’t really there. I just was so — it was like a shadow of myself.

"But, you know, what can you do? Life goes on and I have to try to stay hopefully positive as much as I can, get through this."

-- Rachel Cohen

Blake saves 3 set points en route to 2nd-round win

NEW YORK — James Blake took his act into prime time at the U.S. Open. He’ll also be taking it to the third round.

Blake staved off three straight set points in a third-set tiebreaker Thursday night to overcome Olivier Rochus of Belgium, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3.

The match, scheduled for late afternoon at Flushing Meadows, started late and continued past sunset, pushing back night matches involving Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick by nearly two hours.

With stadium workers removing trash from the upper deck at Arthur Ashe Stadium to get ready for the night session, Blake fell behind 6-3 in the third-set tiebreaker. But he answered with five straight points to pull it out — jumping for joy and shouting out when he hit a down-the-line winner to seal the set.

"I had some nail-biting moments there in the tiebreaker in the third set," Blake said. "Could have gone either way. To get through that and feel good, get the emotions and feel the crowd getting into it — everything about it was really good."

He broke Rochus’ serve in the sixth game of the fourth set and served out the match from there.

Blake has advanced to at least the third round of the U.S. Open in his last seven appearances — he missed 2004 after breaking his neck in a freak accident when he ran into a net post — but has yet to get past the quarterfinals of any major.

His next match is against 14th-seeded Tommy Robredo.

Notebook: No. 23 Lisicki sprains ankle on last point of loss

NEW YORK — No. 23 seed Sabine Lisicki sprained her ankle and crumpled to the court in pain on the last point of her second-round loss at the U.S. Open on Thursday.

Qualifier Anastasia Rodionova of Australia, ranked 139th, upset the German 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

Lisicki rolled her left ankle as she slid after the ball and stayed down for several minutes while the ankle was heavily wrapped. The 19-year-old was rolled off the court in a wheelchair, wiping tears from her eyes, then was taken to the hospital.

Lisicki came into the Open bothered by a sore right shoulder that forced her to alter her service motion. She hadn’t played since Aug. 6 before her first-round match Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Rodionova matched her best showing at a Grand Slam; she also reached the third round at the U.S. Open in 2006.

MOVIN’ ON UP

Jesse Witten is enjoying the luxuries of playing at the U.S. Open, where the qualifier has advanced to the third round with the first two tour-level victories of his career.

Having ball kids, for instance.

The 26-year-old American was playing on the Futures circuit earlier this year, where the same balls are used all match and have swelled up by the end. The winner may earn only about $1,200 and competitors sometimes stay with host families — which beats the alternative of a dingy motel.

"The families really help you out," Witten said Thursday after beating Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. "They give you some food and make you feel like you’re at home every once in a while."

Now he’s staying at the Waldorf-Astoria.

Witten was considering quitting tennis at the start of this year after he lost his sponsor, a software security company in his hometown of Naples, Fla. Asked about his money situation, Witten quipped, "Or lack thereof?"

But he won enough at those minor-league tournaments "in some places that you probably have never heard of" to stay afloat.

"Mansfield, Texas. Brownsville," he said when asked to name some of the out-of-the-way locales. "I don’t even remember them, because half the time I didn’t really want to know. I mean, there’s a lot of little places that you don’t get any recognition.

"It’s tough. You just have to go out there and put the time in and get through it so you can get to here."

NO DOUBLES TROUBLE

Venus Williams’ sore left knee was still heavily taped during her first-round doubles match with sister Serena on Thursday. Just as during her singles victory a day earlier, Williams showed no ill effects in their 6-2, 6-2 win over Julia Goerges of Germany and Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain.

The knee began bothering her when she struggled through a first-round win Monday. But that didn’t stop the sisters from taking the court for their doubles match. Unlike other elite singles players, they are willing to risk the extra wear and tear of competing in doubles at a Grand Slam.

"I actually felt pretty good today," Williams said. "I’m going to definitely be in both events."

Roger Federer recalled Wednesday night the moment he decided he was no longer going to play Grand Slam doubles. As a teenager in 2001, he stunned top-seeded Pete Sampras in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

His doubles partner, Wayne Ferreira, told him they should pull out so Federer could focus on singles.

"I was like, ‘Well, I want to play doubles,"’ Federer recalled. "He goes, ‘Well, I’m injured in case, just so you know.’

"He pulled out. He did that for me. I was like, This doesn’t feel right. That’s, I guess, what made me just like, you know, I better not enter."

-- Rachel Cohen

U.S. Open at a glance

A look at Thursday’s play at the $21.6 million U.S. Open tennis championships:

WEATHER: Mostly sunny and warm. High of 78.

ATTENDANCE: Day: 36,431. Night: 23,771. Total: 60,202.

MEN’S SEEDED WINNERS: Second Round: No. 4 Novak Djokovic, No. 5 Andy Roddick, No. 8 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 10 Fernando Verdasco, No. 12 Robin Soderling, No. 14 Tommy Robredo, No. 15 Radek Stepanek, No. 20 Tommy Haas, No. 21 James Blake, No. 22 Sam Querrey and No. 23 Philipp Kohlschreiber.

MEN’S SEEDED LOSERS: None.

WOMEN’S SEEDED WINNERS: Second Round: No. 1 Dinara Safina, No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 13 Nadia Petrova, No. 21 Zheng Jie, No. 24 Sorana Cirstea and No. 29 Maria Sharapova.

WOMEN’S SEEDED LOSERS: No. 4 Elena Dementieva, No. 5 Jelena Jankovic, No. 19 Patty Schnyder, No. 23 Sabine Lisicki and No. 30 Alona Bondarenko.

TOP PLAYERS ON COURT FRIDAY: Men: No. 2 Andy Murray vs. Paul Capdeville, No. 3 Rafael Nadal vs. Nicolas Kiefer, No. 6 Juan Martin del Potro vs. Jurgen Melzer. Women: No. 2 Serena Williams vs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, No. 3 Venus Williams vs. Magdalena Rybarikova, No. 8 Victoria Azarenka vs. No. 26 Francesca Schiavone.

STAT OF THE DAY: 16 of the 32 women’s seeds have already been eliminated while only three of 31 men’s seeds are out. Mardy Fish, originally the No. 25 seed, withdrew before the tournament started.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "She wasn’t hitting winners left and right on me. We had long points. I was right there with her. I knew if I could play well and keep being aggressive and staying in there that I could do it." — Melanie Oudin, who beat fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva to advance to the third round.

FRIDAY ON TV: Tennis Channel, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; ESPN2, noon-5 p.m., 6-10 p.m.

ON THIS DATE: Sept. 4, 1959: 16-year-old Arthur Ashe loses his first U.S. National Championships match in straight sets to 21-year-old Rod Laver.

Elsewhere

Tennis player Paszek avoids doping ban

VIENNA — Austrian tennis player Tamira Paszek will not be banned because of a medical treatment she received for a back injury.

The disciplinary committee of Austria’s anti-doping agency decided Thursday that the treatment was illegal, but that Paszek could not be blamed for it.

The 18-year-old Paszek received a homeopathic treatment in July. Blood was taken for enrichment and later re-injected in her lower back. Re-injecting one’s own blood is banned under international anti-doping rules.

Paszek hasn’t played since retiring in the first round at Wimbledon in June. She ended her season early because of the injury.