Maria Sharapova v Melanie Oudin PHOTOS U.S. Open 3rd Round

Maria Sharapova vs Melanie Oudin U.S. Open PHOTOS

Posted on: September 4th, 2009 by: Meg1 comment

Melanie Oudin beat Maria Sharapova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5

In third round action, 17-year-old Melanie Oudin went head-to-head against Russian player Maria Sharapova. The 29th seed handily beat another American teen Christina McHale 6-2, 6-1 on Friday. That victory set up the contest that was clearly the biggest match of Oudin’s young career and she didn’t disappoint.

Oudin knocked out her opponent in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Sharapova had 63 unforced errors and 21 double faults.

The gorgeous 22-year-old blonde Russian lives in Manhattan Beach, California and is the longtime girlfriend of Charlie Ebersol, son of NBC Sports executive Dick Ebersol. See photos of the couple here.

The third round contest took place on Saturday afternoon. Sharapova expected that her teen opponent would be the fan favorite. She said, “I think that is totally understandable. We’re in New York City. I’m a Russian playing against a young, up-and-coming girl who has a tremendous amount of potential. I think it would be strange if they aren’t rooting for her.”

Oudin was sporting the word “BELIEVE” stamped on the bottom of her yellow and pink sneakers. She got the idea from her 15-year-old boyfriend Austin Smith, who has been hanging on her every move at Arthur Ashe Stadium this week.

Melanie Oudin will see fourth round action on Monday, going head-to-head against 13th seed Nadia Petrova, a 27-year-old Russian. The pair will be vying for a berth in the quarter-finals. See Nadia Petrova photos here.

Photos of Maria Sharpova below 3rd round video wrap up below. Click HERE for Melanie Oudin photo gallery.