FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — IT caught up with Melanie Oudin’s mother, Leslie, just moments after her 17-year-old daughter dispatched Russian Nadia Petrova 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 to advance to her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.
INSIDE TENNIS: How are you feeling right now?
LESLIE OUDIN: I don’t even know how to describe it. I’m just so excited for her.
IT: When did you first sense that this little girl could be special?
LO: When she was maybe 12.
IT: Her fighting spirit was beginning to emerge?
LO: Yeah. It really did. It was all she ever wanted to be. Everything revolved around her tennis. That’s what she wanted to do all the time. She was always checking the computer for stats on players or tournaments. She would play in the driveway and on the garage wall. She was constantly playing. Every now and then I thought that garage door was going to collapse.
IT: Could you have imagined Melanie taking down four straight Euro wonders in majors in a row: first Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon and now Dementieva, Sharapova and Petrova here at the Open?
LO: No. I couldn’t have imagined it.
IT: How do you think she’ll handle this incredible rush of attention?
MO: She’s not used to all this stuff. She just wants to play tennis. She’ll be fine. It will just take some getting used to. It’s all surreal. It hasn’t sunk in yet. We just made a complete jump.
IT: Does it seem a little like a dream to you?
LO: Yes.
IT: Could you see her getting to Super Saturday?
LO: We’ll just take one day at a time.
IT: We hear she still does chores around the Racquet Club of the South.
LO: She had to lay sod. She has to sweep the courts.
