Melanie Oudin Begins With a Win at U.S. Open

Last year's men's champion, Juan Martín del Potro, is in Miami instead of New York, still working his way back from major wrist surgery and unable to defend his title. Nor will there be any tantrums over foot faults from Serena Williams, the game's leading woman, who is out because of a very different kind of foot problem.

But there was still fodder for nostalgia on a steamy opening Monday as the organizers did their best to build a bridge between last year and this year.

First up at Arthur Ashe Stadium was Melanie Oudin, the still-plucky Georgia teenager who became a star on the same court last year by upsetting three of her elders, including Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova, on her way to the quarterfinals. Neither the buzz nor the opposition was of nearly the same magnitude Monday. The vast majority of the blue seats were vacant when Oudin strode on court shortly after 11 a.m. to face Olga Savchuk, a Ukrainian qualifier ranked 143rd.

"No matter who I was playing, it feels good to be back again," Oudin said. "But I was, yes, definitely nervous. My stomach felt a little bit funny in the beginning of the match."

Since her remarkable summer in 2009 -- she also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon -- there have been more disappointments than triumphs. She has a losing record this season and did not win a match in her last three tournaments.

But Oudin, unseeded again this year, hardly looked like a demoralized 18-year-old against Savchuk, even if the catchword on her sneakers is now "Courage" instead of last year's "Believe," a choice that might make it seem as if she were bracing to absorb a blow rather than relive a joy ride.

"Not that I'm like sick of believe or anything -- and people tell me that all the time -- but I wanted something different," she said. "I think courage was really, really good for this year, especially because of how well I did last year. I think that you need to have courage in order to believe in yourself."

She certainly gathered strength and precision on Monday, struggling to strike the ball cleanly and throw herself into her shots in the early going before reeling off nine straight games to win, 6-3, 6-0. In the second set, she won the first 16 points and ended up losing only 2 in the set.

"The main thing I'm trying to get her to do is to play for herself and not for what other people think or say," her coach, Brian de Villiers, said. "I still don't like her reading the press or blogs or any of that. People can be brutal out there."

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