Melanie Oudin is heading to the French Open after earning a wild card at low-level clay-court tournaments in the United States.
She told The Associated Press on Monday: I'm going in the right direction now'' afterthe down part of my career.''
When Oudin was 17, unseeded and unknown out of Marietta, Ga., she made a captivating run to the 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinals, beating Maria Sharapova on the way. But Oudin lost her opening match at six of the next eight major tournaments and didn't even get into the Australian Open in January, losing in qualifying.
She's 270th in Monday's WTA rankings, too low to get into French Open qualifying. But a recent title at the USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Charlottesville, Va., helped Oudin claim a wild card.