Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

To get started, first

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Melanie Oudin receives wild card into Wimbledon

    The Associated Press – Sun, Jun 17, 2012 5:02 PM EDT

    LONDON (AP) American Melanie Oudin has received a wild card into Wimbledon.

    The 20-year-old was a quarterfinalist at the 2009 U.S. Open but has struggled to regain that form. On Sunday, she reached the final at the Aegon Classic.

    Wimbledon officials announced Sunday that Grega Zemlja of Slovenia had received the final men's wild-card spot in the tournament, which starts June 25. Players already announced included former champion Lleyton Hewitt and Tommy Haas, who beat Roger Federer in the Halle final Sunday.

    On the women's side, Ashleigh Barty of Australia was also added.

     

    14 comments

    • Kris
      Kris  •  Garden City, New York  •  2 days 0 hours ago
      This is the way the wild card system was meant to be used. Players who are actually playing leading up to Wimbledon but are just below the ranking. Both Oudin and Barty got wild cards into the French and have gained in confidence since.
    • Scott J
      Scott J  •  2 days 12 hours ago
      i think that's appropriate at this point. oudin is gaining some much needed tour success right now but her ranking is still too low to get into qualies. and i think her run this week at birmingham truly supports their decision.

      i have to say for all the unnecessary vitriol,oudin has improved a great deal since her lowest point. from what i saw at RG,her forehand is stronger,she's not nearly as defensive on her backhand--even hitting over it more consistently and she's taking more initiative in points and really taking an aggressive position in the court.
      • f
        f 2 days 10 hours ago
        You are right on, Scott! Oudin seems to have made a big leap forward recently. But it's a waste of time to talk reason with the downers here. They will never let facts interfere with hate.
    • TommySongs
      TommySongs  •  Milford, Massachusetts  •  1 day 21 hours ago
      And to update, Melanie just WON the event becoming the first woman ranked outside of the top 200 to capture a main tour title since Kim Clijsters won the US Open in 2009...
      I think we now call the trash talkers what they are... trash. Go Mel !!!!!!
    • Chris
      Chris  •  2 days 10 hours ago
      Wow, that's huge for Melanie. I hope she is able to capitalize on this fortunate situation and play her best on the grass!
    • Gateway
      Gateway  •  2 days 1 hour ago
      Melanie who?
    • traveling with the tour
      traveling with the tour  •  San Diego, California  •  2 days 3 hours ago
      Both tours need wildcards and lower ranked players to survive. Without them they might as well start the tournament at the round of 16. That said, there is no way Oudin could win Wimbledon. The bigger players will always have the power advantage over her. To win on a faster surface one needs to get free points on their serve. Melanie has a weak serve.
    • Annoymous!
      Annoymous!  •  Minneapolis, Minnesota  •  2 days 11 hours ago
      Melanie Oudin is on her way to winning another Wimbledon title. Last year it was the mixed with Jack Sack! This year might be the singles! Look out Maria Sharapova! I been scare now that Melanie is in the draw!
      • Marcus
        Marcus 2 days 9 hours ago
        Wow. That's just delusional. Melanie winning Wimbleon is probably the least likely thing ever in the world. She beat Maria when she was still coming back from surgery. Get a clue.
      • Annoymous!
        Annoymous! 2 days 8 hours ago
        Maria is so scare of Melanie - she might just not play her and Melanie takes a walkover and play the next opponent! Why not? After all; she has won another Grand Slam this year - the French so Wimbledon is not as important to her as to Melanie who wants to regain her ranking to the top 20!
    • Jim
      Jim  •  Seattle, Washington  •  2 days 18 hours ago
      What a nice bunch of wild cards!

      Jim
    • Forrest
      Forrest  •  Campbell River, Canada  •  2 days 16 hours ago
      both barty and oudin have been playing well the past few weeks - barty won the doubles and is in singles final of an itf tourney on grass this past week -- barty is still so very young and is an exciting player to watch, as for oudin I think she's relaxed enough finally to just play and she is also playing very well, both well deserved wild cards. Would rather see these go to ppl like this than go to players who may have bigger names but inevitably go out in 1st round anyway.
    • Mike M
      Mike M  •  Cincinnati, Ohio  •  2 days 10 hours ago
      Considering she'll move from the 200s to 120 or so with a win, 140 or so if she loses Monday, not a bad use of a wild card. Wimbledon definitely seems to be rewarding recent play, which is good. Saw Shvedova got one too after her run at the French.
      • Scott J
        Scott J 2 days 2 hours ago
        both shvedova and virginie razzano along with the belgian player on the men's side got w/c here too. i like it better this way myself. for so long wimby organizers were accused of being too partial in many of their selections......this is to me is a lot more fair.
    • Gateway
      Gateway  •  2 days 19 hours ago
      How else would she get in? Certainly not on her record.
      • Far
        Far 2 days 17 hours ago
        She reached the final of a grass tournament today in England which helped her cause. She's been playing better and getting better results lately. Good for her. She'll probably never be a top notch player but she certainly could be a Top 20 player if she keeps it up. Congrats to her and hope she does well at Wimbledon.
      • Scott J
        Scott J 2 days 12 hours ago
        actually oudin had some nice ITF results ahead of RG and played as good as her ranking by reaching the second round there, so those results have translated. and she is indeed in her first final at birmingham this weekend. wimbledon and the ITF look at that. you can't just write it off as nothing because that's what w/c are for.
      • Scott J
        Scott J 2 days 12 hours ago
        or shall i say she used her w/c entry at RG appropriately. thing is,these are given to players who don't have the rank high enough to gain direct entry into qualifying rounds.....i think the cut-off for those are around 170-something.....and considering the results she does have,i think most of you with your disdain are being unfair.
    • Krud-Ler the racehorse
      Krud-Ler the racehorse  •  2 days 2 hours ago
      you go girl
    • Austin P
      Austin P  •  Reno, Nevada  •  2 days 18 hours ago
      Which official did she have to kneel down in front of........in order to get the Wild Card pass?
      • let's play 2
        let's play 2 2 days 12 hours ago
        Austin P, it appears that you are fascinated with sex, but know nothing about professional tennis.
      • TommySongs
        TommySongs 2 days 11 hours ago
        well that's disgusting. btw I Just reported your soon-to-be-gone post to Yahoo. What a stupid misogynist thing to say about an athlete who has worked so hard. Show some respect.
    • Sampras
      Sampras  •  2 days 14 hours ago
      no more special treatment for this flash in the pan amusement and mental case!
     Post a comment