The 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., kept erasing big deficits and upsetting older, taller, higher-ranked players at the U.S. Open, generating more and more interest in her magical ride.
Her gutsy play, aw-shucks approach and those pink-and-yellow sneakers with "BELIEVE" on the heels carried Oudin all the way to the quarterfinals at the American Grand Slam tournament. That's where her surprising story ended Wednesday night with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to No. 9-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
"It was a lot," Oudin conceded. "These past two weeks have been really different for me. I've gone from being just a normal, like, tennis player to almost everyone in the United States knowing who I am now."
Then, keeping a brave face, Oudin added: "I don't think that affected my tennis game tonight at all."
Perhaps. Still, facing Wozniacki in the sport's largest arena, playing under the bright lights in the big city, Oudin showed signs of shakiness at the start, dropping 14 of the first 18 points. Even the comeback kid couldn't recover from that.
"This has been a great experience for me. I had a great run here," the 70th-ranked Oudin told the crowd during an on-court interview right after the match, an honor usually reserved for the winner. "I hope to come back next year and do even better."
It'll be hard to top her 2009 U.S. Open.
With impressive court coverage and solid ground strokes, the 5-6 Oudin knocked off four more established players - including three-time major champion Maria Sharapova and Beijing Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva - to become the youngest quarterfinalist at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 1999.
Making the tale even better: Oudin's last three victories each came after she dropped the first set. Plus, there was her wide-eyed, age-appropriate attitude: Everything was "cool" and "awesome," including meeting Roger Federer for the first time and finally getting to shake hands with Sharapova - only after beating her, of course.
Away from the court, there was heady stuff, too. Extra interviews and photo ops. Greetings from strangers on the street. Autograph-seekers in the hotel lobby.
"She's just had so much other activity going on that mentally she wasn't quite as focused as she should've been," said Oudin's mother, Leslie. "All this comes with experience, and she'll learn how to handle this better."
As Oudin's coach, Brian de Villiers, put it: "Yeah, I think, over time, the distractions might have gotten to her."
It seemed that way.
Oudin made 43 unforced errors, 23 more than Wozniacki, who also was playing in her first major quarterfinal. In essence, Oudin ran smack-dab into a version of herself, a counter-punching baseliner who was far steadier on this night.
Now the Dane will play her first Grand Slam semifinal against another 19-year-old, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. The 50th-ranked Wickmayer - never before past the second round at a major tournament - beat Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 7-5, 6-4.
The other women's semifinal Friday features two far more familiar names: defending champion Williams against 2005 champion Kim Clijsters.
Earlier Wednesday, No. 4-seeded Novak Djokovic reached the U.S. Open semifinals for the third consecutive year, beating No. 10 Fernando Verdasco of Spain 7-6 (2), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Djokovic, the 2008 Australian Open champion, lost to Federer in the 2007 final and the 2008 semifinals at Flushing Meadows.
He will meet Federer, who beat No. 12 Robin Soderling, in the semifinals again this year.
