Question of the day: Can Melanie Oudin put tennis back on the map?

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Could 17-year-old Melanie Oudin be what it takes to put tennis back on the national sports map? Reporters from around the Tribune family tackle today’s question of the day, then you get a chance to leave a comment and tell them why they are wrong.

Harvey Fialkov‬‪, Sun Sentinel

‬‪‬‪While the emergence of this fresh-faced Georgia peach has breathed fresh life into the American tennis fan, let’s not get carried away. Sure, the spunky teen has caught our fancy with her resemblance and style to a feisty Justine Henin, but Oudin needs to do a lot more than knock off three troubled, yet highly ranked competitors. Her ability to pull off three straight upsets speaks to her heart and high tennis I.Q., however, her lack of a quality serve won’t measure up to the likes of Serena Williams or Kim Clijsters in a potential final matchup. ‘Believe’ may be scrawled on Oudin’s sneakers, but believe this: Once the Williams sisters walk away, they’ll be taking American women AND men’s tennis with them.

Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times

I think that, not only will the emergence of Melanie Oudin put tennis back on the national map, but it will also lead to world peace, the cure for cancer and the Dodgers winning the World Series. Let’s all relax. Take a deep breath. She is 17. She has won four prominent tennis matches—OK, three--against some of the classic head cases on the tour. Let her be a kid, work her way toward maturity and tennis prominence. It takes time. This whole Oudin thing is nice, but also the product of too much media with too little imagination and too much inclination to slobber all over the obvious. Here in New York City, there are currently only two topics in sports: Derek Jeter and his pursuit of Lou Gehrig’s Yankee hit record and Melanie Oudin. Oudin is a young, cute American. She is blonde and her family cries a lot. The only thing missing on television is a profile on the family dog. If she wins one more round, that will be forthcoming. See me next year at this time, when Oudin is going for her second straight Open title and her fourth Grand Slam title. Then we can talk significance.

Paul Doyle, Hartford Courant

Melanie Oudin, bless her spunky little heart, can’t revive American tennis by herself. That’s a job that’s way beyond the skills of one player, even the relentless Georgia teenager.
Tennis will claw its way back into the American sports landscape when a wave of U.S. players start approaching or cracking the Top 10 world rankings. We’ve learned over the past few years that one or two top-ranked U.S. players – whether it’s Venus and Serena Williams or Andy Roddick – isn’t enough to bring casual fans to the table.
So while Oudin’s U.S. Open run is great, it really doesn’t register with fans focused on their fantasy football teams. And remember, on the men’s side, there is no U.S. player in the quarterfinals for the first time in the history of the Open – a sign of how far American men’s tennis has declined.
It will take more than one U.S. teenager to force tennis into the front row. It’s a start, and a nice story this week, but Oudin needs a lot of help.

Ron Fritz, The Baltimore Sun

No, because few things can put tennis back on the national sports map. If you can’t get excited about tennis because of the Williams sisters, then a 17-year-old from Georgia is not going to do it. She is fun to watch, though. Even on a heavy college football day on Saturday, I found myself watching Oudin vs. Maria Sharapova. Then on Monday, she was on TV in a restaurant and I rushed home to see if she was going to beat Nadia Petrova.
It’s been a magical run to the quarterfinals for Oudin and she’s a fresh face on the tennis scene. But alone, she’s not going to lift the sport. What it needs is a McEnroe vs. Connors or Evert vs. Navratilova. Even Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal hasn’t elevated the sport to must-see TV. An American rivalry, say Oudin vs. Serena or Venus Williams, would help. But Oudin can’t do it alone.