Melanie Oudin On Tonight Show: Conan Interviews 17-Year-Old US Tennis Sensation (VIDEO)

17-year-old Melanie Oudin, the American tennis sensation whose Cinderella run at the U.S. Open took her all the way to the quarterfinals, was a guest on the "Tonight Show" last night. Oudin became a media darling after she continued to upset players ranked much higher than her in every round, and she told Conan that a desire for revenge helped to drive her along:

Last year was my first [U.S. Open] and I got a wildcard getting into it and I had a very disappointing loss. I lost to another wildcard. I had lots of chances but going into this U.S. Open I was ready to have some revenge and do really well.

Oudin also talked about how she had to leave her hotel because her coach had only booked it for one night, not expecting his player to go as far as she did, and discussed the outburst from Serena Williams that shocked the tournament.

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Comments

[MM5]

10:19 PM on 09/16/2009

This is a story because she is an unseeded 17 year old who beat some of the top seeded players in one of the Grand Slam tournaments...the media loves that sort of stuff and many Americans also love that underdog battling the big dogs story. So for all the snarky comments on here...let the kid have her 15 minutes...she did make things exciting on the ladies side.

[dct1999]

07:18 PM on 09/16/2009

And hp has also referred to the Obama girls and their cousin as "adorable".

[dct1999]

07:15 PM on 09/16/2009

To be fair to hp (I can't believe I'm typing those words) they also called Damon Weaver "adorable". He's the cute little black kid who interviewed Biden and Obama.

[IDIOTA]

07:12 PM on 09/16/2009

Serena's actions were an example of hubris not racism.

[IDIOTA]

07:09 PM on 09/16/2009

Race is not real, but racism is real.

[talkingdog]

08:08 PM on 09/16/2009

IDIOTA makes an interesting statement.

Racism is REAL but RACE is not real,..........

Question - why do we run the 10K then?

[diak0n0s]

05:19 PM on 09/16/2009

Well. . . . it looks like some people are having a problem with a white, blond teenanger.

[alsm9]

06:21 PM on 09/16/2009

Ya, they're really hard done by..(snark)...

[johnnynyc]

11:32 AM on 09/17/2009

Please... an "adorable" white blonde teen.

[scorpioleidy]

05:04 PM on 09/16/2009

Enjoy it now, H/Oudin/i because I 'BELIEVE' your magic - er, LUCK - has run out. You have no serve and no game to speak of, and you probably won't be around next year in any of the majors.

I saw all her matches - guess I missed the adorable part.

[northendtreker]

04:34 PM on 09/16/2009

Sarena may have been wronged. No one saw the foot fault but that lines person. Still, Serena's behavior could not be ignored.

[northendtreker]

04:29 PM on 09/16/2009

It was beautiful watching her beat the "Russian" screamer Sharapova. I wish her much success.

[justbeingme201]

05:50 PM on 09/16/2009

I love watching anybody beat Sharapova.

[Synnerman]

02:29 PM on 09/16/2009

"Adorable" eh.

[bazokbros]

05:19 PM on 09/16/2009

Exactly.

[justbeingme201]

05:51 PM on 09/16/2009

What constitutes adorable? Babies are adorable.

[hwj]

02:14 PM on 09/16/2009

I just have a feeling that her U.S. Open performance was a flash in the night and that tennis will quickly become secondary to cashing-in on her few hours of fame.

[johnnynyc]

02:42 PM on 09/16/2009

Sharapova set a record for double faults against her and handed her almost a full set lead and the trend isn't for 5'6" players to make an impact.

However SI reports her father accused her mother of having an affair with her coach in his filing for divorce so the gossip mags may be the road of least resistance.

[talkingdog]

08:10 PM on 09/16/2009

Her goal is to be a doctor. So you're you.

[EvangelicalEmpathy]

01:59 PM on 09/16/2009

To PrimasElijah, I was thinking the same thing. Young, cute and blond, a marketing machine's dream. Remember what happened to Ana Kornikova...stardom struck, then tennis was history. Why train and work hard for a possible 1 million (if you win) when you can earn several million shooting commercials? That's why I respect Sharapova...she's always kept her eye on the ball (excuse the pun).

[Beelzebul]

01:40 PM on 09/16/2009

Based on her actions toward an Asian ref, it's quite obvious Serena is a racist. And it's obvious that those who support the actions of Serena, are also racist toward women of Asian descent.

There's just no other conclusion to be drawn.

End of story.

[madHenry]

02:08 PM on 09/16/2009

I don't know about Serena, but Popeye is certainly a racist. "I am what I am and that's all what I am..." Indeed!

[daedelus]

02:20 PM on 09/16/2009

If you feel a need to condone the outpouring of racism directed at Williams in the aftermath of the incident at the Open, why not just do it? No need for you to be so oblique.

[diak0n0s]

05:21 PM on 09/16/2009

How did Williams get into this post??

[mssreader]

12:56 PM on 09/16/2009

She's delightful and fresh reminding me of the young Chrissie. Hope she stays this way. She's gutsy and has a passion for the sport. Let the adults play at being adults as they usually do acting like idiots and certainly not role models for the youth of today.

[Beelzebul]

12:42 PM on 09/16/2009

"I swear to God I'm (expletive) going to take this (expletive) ball and shove it down your (expletive) throat, you hear that?''

Serena obviously doesn't like Asian women. Makes her a racist. Right?

[CessnaDriver]

01:01 PM on 09/16/2009

No.

[Beelzebul]

01:06 PM on 09/16/2009

How come?

[Passenger57]

03:23 PM on 09/16/2009

Beelzebul, those must be top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art tennis rackets you're bashing yourself over the head with before making those stupid comments...