Mighty Melanie Oudin Wins AEGON Classic Title

By Chris Oddo

Photo Credit: Rui Vieira PA/AP

(June 18, 2012) -- It was a strange week at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham, England. With the constant, driving rain wreaking havoc on play, simply finishing a match demanded every ounce of perseverance from the players.

For Melanie Oudin, the week-long trudge to victory seemed to mimic her career arc. After storming out of the gates and becoming America’s tennis darling at the age of 17, the now 20-year-old has waited far longer for her next wave of success than many would have anticipated.

The last two years, in which the Georgia native’s ranking plummeted from a career-high 31 to a pre-tournament 208, must have felt like one big rain delay for Oudin.

Now the sun appears to be shining again.

Oudin won her first career WTA title by defeating fifth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-2 in the final today.

Oudin, who will spend the next week practicing at Eastbourne with fellow American Christina McHale, came into the AEGON Classic as an unseeded qualifier with little hope of making the main draw, let alone winning the event.

A week later, she’s earned her first WTA title and a Wimbledon wildcard to boot.

“I didn’t want to get excited about any of the wins this week because I wanted to keep it going,” she said afterwards.

Jankovic, who dropped to 12-15 in WTA finals for her career, has lost the only two matches she’s played against Oudin, both on grass.

“Melanie played very solid,” Jankovic said. “She didn’t really give me much and was striking the ball so well.”

Though the final had to be disappointing for the 27-year-old former world No. 1, her first final of the season might serve to give her some confidence as well.

The victory moved her back into the top 20 today, while Oudin shot up 86 spots to 122.

“I can’t complain,” said an older, wiser Jankovic, who was surprised she did so will in her first grass court appearance of the year.

Now that she’s experienced how difficult it is to notch big wins at the tour level, Oudin can surely appreciate her first title more than she did her original breakout wins at the U.S. Open in 2009. But she won’t have long to savor it. Wimbledon is just six days away, and expectations for Oudin will once again be high.