NEW YORK (AP) Melanie Oudin can show up at next year's U.S. Open back as the up-and-coming teenager just hoping to win some matches.
The darling of the 2009 Open acknowledged relief Wednesday after her run ended this time after only two rounds. Oudin's opponent was the one who was seeded, but the 18-year-old felt the pressure of the favorite in front of the big crowd of Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Oudin made 38 unforced errors in losing 6-2, 7-5 to 29th-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine.
I guess I'm a little tiny bit relieved now,'' she said.I can kind of start over - I guess, like, start over from all the expectations from last year. And now I can just go out and hopefully do really well the rest of the year and keep working hard.''
Oudin learned just how much life changes after a surprise run to last year's quarterfinals. She's still a bubbly teen from Marietta, Ga., with a word of inspiration written on her sneakers - Believe'' last year,Courage'' this year. But now everybody expected her to knock off highly ranked players.
``The second I got out there, I did feel really tight,'' she said of Wednesday's match.
The crowd was really, really loud,'' Oudin added.It was just a lot. The second I got out there, I guess it kind of overwhelmed me a little bit.''
The 43rd-ranked Oudin didn't make it past the second round at any Grand Slam this year. She had also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2009.
But with experience comes perspective.
``I still have hopefully like 10 more years in my career, hopefully 10 more U.S. Opens ahead of me,'' she said.
Bondarenko, who advanced to at least the third round in the previous three majors this season, earned the victory with just four winners. Oudin had only nine.
``I just knew if she kept going with the mistakes, you wait for the next mistake and try to play without your own mistakes,'' Bondarenko said.
There's still much to build on as Oudin returns to tennis normalcy. She was ranked as high as 31st this year after coming into the 2009 Open at No. 70. She reached her first semifinal indoors in Paris in February.
At least now coming into next year no one will really expect that much from me,'' Oudin said,so I guess that's good.''