Melanie Oudin is having a bad year and maybe most people saw this coming for the young America, but with the US Open coming next week, she will have to be on her toes. With a quarterfinal appearance last year, Oudin has a ton of points to defend.
She entered the Pilot Pen event this week to get some matches in but lost in the first round, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, to lucky loser Dominka Cibulkova of Slovakia.
"Last year nobody had any expectations of me," Oudin said. "Now everybody expects me to do well every time I play. Almost every person in the United States expects me to win every single match I play, so, I mean, that's kind of a little bit of pressure."
Oudin is definitely leading the young talent on the women's side for the USA so pressure will be on her definitely to play well with Serena and Venus Williams getting toward their retirement years.
"I'm not going to get down on myself because of what I thought I should've done after playing so well at last year's U.S. Open," she said. "I know I can get better, (but) overall I think I'm doing fine for someone in her first full year on the tour ... playing in main draws against the best in the world."