Marietta’s Melanie Oudin defeats No. 6 Jankovic at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England — After Melanie Oudin of Marietta stormed into the fourth round at Wimbledon amid sweltering heat on Saturday, the friends here to support her had only two things to say.

First, they expressed their pride in the 17-year-old American qualifier ranked 124th for managing to amazingly knock the former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic out of the tournament. And, second, they wondered if they’d be able to able to change their plane tickets — yet again.

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Alastair Grant / AP

Melanie Oudin of Marietta reacts after winning match point at WImbledon. She defeated the No. 6 seed, Jelena Jankovic.

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Alastair Grant / AP

The 17-year-old from Marietta shakes hands with Jankovic.

• More photos of Melanie Oudin
• Family cheers Oudin on
• Oudin's player profile

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“We were actually supposed to fly out of here today at 3 p.m., but here we are still at Wimbledon,” said her coach, Brian de Villiers.

Certainly the three couples here — all of whom have known Oudin since her days training as a young girl at the Riverside Club in Atlanta — know the teenager’s good at what she does. But perhaps they didn’t know how good -– until now.

Oudin (whom the BBC has started referring to as “the giant killer”) won the three-hour match 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-2 over the sixth-seeded Jankovic in perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament’s first week.

“I was just thinking that she was any other player,” Oudin said, “and this was any other match, and I was at any other tournament — not like on the biggest stage at Wimbledon. I think I handled it really well.”

Initially she seemed fairly evenly matched with Jankovic, of Serbia, who received treatment for heat exhaustion and problems with her feet after the first set. Every time Oudin hit a ball into the net, Jankovic, 24, knocked one out of bounds.

Oudin, who has been promising she’d play Wimbledon one day play since she was 9 years old, showed what she was made of after winning the second set and then sensationally soaring through the third.

Even during the 66-minute first set, it was Oudin who seemed to have Jankovic on the run. Indeed even though it was Oudin who failed to convert four set points during that first set, Jankovic appeared exhausted at the end, calling over a trainer and doctor while having an icepack applied to her neck.

Afterward, Jankovic said her illness was due in part to “woman problems.”

“It’s not easy being a woman, you know, sometimes,” she said.

Jankovic also didn’t sound impressed with her conqueror.

“From what I have seen, she can play if you let her play,” said Jankovic. “But she cannot hurt you with anything. She doesn’t have any weapons, from what I’ve seen.

“She’s a consistent and quite solid player. She doesn’t make so many mistakes. But she doesn’t do anything either, so it’s like she’s depending kind of on you.”

Perhaps Jankovic was caught off-guard by Oudin’s unexpected rise. She arrived in London with an 0-2 record in Grand Slam matches, and she had to win three qualifying matches to make Wimbledon’s main draw for the first time. She’s ranked 124th but will surely crack the top 100 for the first time after the tournament.

Regardless of Jankovic’s critique, Oudin clearly enjoyed the moment. After winning match point, she had the crowd in the cozy Court 3 on their feet, belting out cheers and applause. A gaggle of reporters seemed to appear out of nowhere, more than one wondering where this no-name girl from Georgia orginated.

“There is not a sweeter or kinder or more unaffected girl than Melanie,” said Kelly Simmons, one of her friends from Atlanta. “She has no idea what will come from all of this … the money she could earn. It’s really just so cute.

“This is so much like a dream and none of us can believe what’s happened.”

Asked why Oudin’s immediate family hadn’t made the trip, devilliers said, “Well, you know, the airfares are really high this time of year. We’ll have to see what happens now.”

Oudin’s win puts her in Monday’s Round of 16 match against Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, the No. 11 seed. Oudin is one of only three American women left — Venus and Serena Williams are the others.

“The Williams sisters have been emailing Melanie … they say things like, ‘You go girl’,” said Cliff Klingbeil, another friend from Atlanta. “Melanie can’t believe the Williams sisters even know who she is. Melanie is a very grounded girl and a very good Southern girl.”

This story was supplemented by reports from the Associated Press and the Belfast Telegraph.