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Melanie Oudin Falls At French Open First Hurdle
By Sean Rudolph
(May 24, 2010) Melanie Oudin's first French Open experience was fleeting.
Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues took down Oudin, 7-5, 6-2, to reach the Roland Garros second round.
The 37th-ranked Oudin, the third highest-ranked American woman behind World No. 1 Serena Williams and second-ranked Venus Williams, characterized her French Open main draw debut as a learning experience with Medina Garrigues proving to be a capable instructor.
The World No. 43 from Valencia advanced to the French Open fourth round three years ago.
"She has a lot of experience," Oudin said. "She's a lot older than me. She's from Spain and grew up on the red clay. I thought I definitely played a good set in the first set. In the end, I think experience took over. Definitely a learning experience for me."
Oudin had reached consecutive quarterfinals on har tru in American clay-court events in Ponte Vedra Beach and Charleston, but had not won a set in three European red clay-court events.
It is the second straight Grand Slam first-round exit for Oudin, who lost in the Australian Open first round in January. Now, she'll gear up for her two best majors: Wimbledon, where she made her break through in reaching the fourth round last June, and the US Open where she beat Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova en route to the 2009 quarterfinals.
"I am looking forward to grass court season coming up,," Oudin said. "Definitely, (I will) try to use some of the clay court time I have on grass and just trying to keep getting better."
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