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A year ago, Melanie Oudin came into the Family Circle Cup ranked No.176 in the world and barely on anyone's radar; 12 months later and 140 spots higher, she is the No.36-ranked player in the world, on everyone's radar and one of the figureheads of American tennis.
Oudin's surge up the rankings could have started right here at the Family Circle Cup last year where, as the No.10 seed in qualifying, she made it all the way to the third round of the main draw, losing to eventual semifinalist Marion Bartoli. A couple of ITF Circuit titles later she was knocking on the door of the Top 100... then came the grandiose Grand Slam results.
As a qualifier into Wimbledon, Oudin made it all the way to the fourth round, recording her first Top 10 win - over Jelena Jankovic - along the way, falling to Agnieszka Radwanska. Then came the US Open, where she beat four higher-ranked Russians, including Elena Dementieva, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova, en route to the quarterfinals. By the end of the year she was almost in the Top 40.
She has had a strong start this year, including reaching her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour semifinal in Paris and quarterfinals at Memphis and Ponte Vedra Beach - and now, doing it again where it all began, in Charleston.
As the No.13 seed in the main draw this year, Oudin hadn't lost a set en route to the quarterfinals, and she has been a headliner almost every time - including tonight as she faced No.7 seed Vera Zvonareva, a former finalist here. Zvonareva won the pair's only previous meeting, just a few weeks ago on hardcourts, but Oudin had gone on big runs before, and she had the crowd on her side.
Even though the match went to Vera, Oudin had certainly has come full circle as a marquis player whose future is still in the making.
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