After Maria thwarted the chances of an all-american round 3 meeting by defeating Christina McHale under the lights on Thursday evening, 6-2 6-1, she progressed to meet Melanie Oudin. Oudin being the surprise winner who took out #4 ranked Elena Dementieva in what was arguably the shock of the women's draw so far.The upset proving Melanie Oudin of the USA is a big stage player (she also defeated Jankovic at Wimbledon this year) and could be a dangerous opponent given the fact she runs everything down, and makes her opponents play alot of balls. Oudin's game is solid with no obvious weakness and she can mix it up relatively well.
Maria will need to focus in order to come through this match up unscathed. Maria will need to adjust quickly not only to the different conditions of playing a Day match compared to a Night match, but also to the varying pace of shot Oudin will present her with. Look for Melanie to play alot of sliced backhands to try and throw Maria off her rhythm and open the court. She can also move the ball around the court well which could prove a problem for Maria if she's unable to get time on the ball. Melanie is definitely a step up from Maria's previous opponents and she will be full of confidence after putting out the #4 seed.
Nevertheless, Maria having won the US Open title in 2006 and having a wealth of experience on the Grand Slam stage should be able to pull through the match, her groundstrokes proving the deciding factor wearing down Oudin in both pace and consistency. However it will no doubt be less straightforward than her first two matches and Maria will need to serve well to keep the pressure on Melanie Oudin.
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