WIMBLEDON, England - As a tyke growing up in Marietta, Ga., Melanie Oudin would watch Venus and Serena Williams on TV and tell anyone who would listen that she was going to play at Wimbledon, too, one day.
Who knew she’d be right? And do so well, so quickly?
Making her Wimbledon debut at age 17 after getting through qualifying, the 124th-ranked Oudin joined the Williams sisters in the fourth round at the All England Club by beating former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, 6-7 (8-10), 7-5, 6-2, yesterday in the most startling result of the tournament’s opening week.
“Was just thinking that she was any other player, and this was any other match, and I was at any other tournament - you know, not, like, on the biggest stage, at Wimbledon, playing my first top-10 player,’’ Oudin said.
Another US qualifier, 133d-ranked Jesse Levine of Boca Raton, Fla., couldn’t extend his run in the men’s draw, losing to No. 19 Stanislas Wawrinka, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. That leaves No. 6 Andy Roddick as the last American man in the tournament.
While Oudin was working on her big win, five-time Wimbledon champ Venus Williams was enjoying a matter-of-fact contest on Centre Court, winning the first eight games en route to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over 34th-ranked Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.
Williams has won 17 consecutive matches and 29 straight sets, and is trying to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win three consecutive titles. Next up: 2008 French Open champion and former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who is seeded 13th and eliminated No. 18 Samantha Stosur, 7-5, 6-2.
Oudin wasn’t the only teen who turned in a significant win: 19-year-old Sabine Lisicki of Germany beat two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-2, 7-5. When the match ended, as her parents and best friend watched from the stands, Lisicki sat in her chair, her body shaking as she sobbed.
The 41st-ranked Lisicki now meets yet another teen, No. 9-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, and No. 1 Dinara Safina will play 2006 Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo.
Williams has won five of six previous matches against Ivanovic, who nonetheless said: “Very dangerous opponent, but I think I have a great chance.’’
Sometimes, such head-to-head records are irrelevant, and sometimes past is prologue: Roddick entered yesterday 8-0 against No. 26 Jurgen Melzer and now is 9-0 after a 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-3 victory. But No. 20 Tomas Berdych improved from 0-8 to 1-8 against No. 12 Nikolay Davydenko by winning, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
Elsewhere, No. 3 Andy Murray’s bid to end Britain’s 73-year wait for a male champion continued with a straight-set win against No. 30 Viktor Troicki; No. 24 Tommy Haas and No. 29 Igor Andreev wrapped up victories in matches suspended Friday because of darkness; and 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt, No. 8 Gilles Simon, No. 23 Radek Stepanek, and 2003 French Open champ Juan Carlos Ferrero also advanced. Ferrero, a former No. 1 now ranked 70th, needed a wild-card invitation to get into the field, but he beat No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, on Court 1.
