American Melanie Oudin wins her first Grand Slam match since the 2010 U.S. Open at Roland Garros with a straight-sets victory over Johanna Larsson, and says that changing coaches last fall was difficult. Oudin split with her longtime private coach, Brian de Villiers, last October and moved to Boca Raton, Florida to work with USTA Player Development. She is now practicing at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y, the home at the U.S. Open.
"It was not easy for sure," Oudin told reporters. "I was with [Brian] forever, ever since I was a little kid. I think that definitely was hard for me, especially because I hadn't had a very good year at all. But I definitely knew it was time to change something. Then of course the first place you try or the first coach right after that long-term is sometimes not the right thing. I think that's why it took me a couple times to try. Then in New York I think I found the right coaches for me. So I've been really happy with how everything is going now. Brian and I are still close. I still talk to him."
Oudin's victory on Sunday was her first main-draw win (discounting retirement wins) since April 2011. She won the USTA Roland Garros wild card by virtue of good Challenger results in April and early May.
"I think it just takes time," she said. "You never know like when it's gonna click. For me really in Charleston, winning that first [qualifying] match and then qualifying, I think that was the hardest part was winning the first match. Ever since then I've been playing pretty well. I haven't been getting tight at all in matches. I haven't been playing with any pressure. I've really been playing to win and playing with much more confidence."