Mais uma vez, Michelle em destaque no blog de Colette Lewis."It was a two-ring circus at Crandon Park Sunday, although no tent obscured the partly cloudy skies and the swaying palm trees. But with the singles finals for both girls and boys played simultaneously, a ringmaster would have come in handy to direct attention to the key points. Fans would hover around the edges of Stadium Court, where Ricardas Berankis defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-2, until an odd game changeover sent them scurrying to Court 2 to catch a glimpse of the slugfest between Michelle Larcher de Brito and Melanie Oudin, won by Larcher de Brito 7-5, 6-3.
Both Berankis and Oudin had quick 3-0 leads, but only the Lithuanian got it to 4-0 in the first set. Oudin, the 16-year-old from Marietta, Ga. who had won 27 straight ITF junior matches, had three points to take a 4-0 lead, but Larcher de Brito hung on to that game and got a break in the next to start her comeback."In the beginning she was making a few errors and I wasn't missing," said Oudin, who has played 22 singles and doubles matches in the past 14 days. "And then she started playing better, and I started making some errors, but all in all it was a good match. I've played a lot of matches lately, so I'm a little tired, but I've got to give her credit."
Larcher de Brito didn't shy away from Oudin's forehand, which she thought slightly superior to the backhand, primarily because she was focusing on her own game. "If I worry about too much, well, I like my head clear and I try not to think about anyone else's play," said Larcher de Brito, who will turn 15 next month.
"Melanie is playing unbelievably; she's improved a lot, and we played one great match."Oudin had success when she got her first serve in, but Larcher de Brito was stepping into the court to attack the second serve, taking control of the point with her deep and heavy groundstrokes. With a sizeable cheering section, including her grandparents from South Africa, calling out encouragement, Larcher de Brito was poised to run away with the match when she broke Oudin to start the second set, but Oudin dug in and held in the third game to keep within shouting distance.
She wouldn't hold again, however. Larcher de Brito's celebration was delayed slightly when she was broken serving for the match at 5-2, but in the next game she converted on her first match point, when an Oudin approach caught the tape.
Falling to the ground behind the baseline, Larcher de Brito stayed on her back for a few seconds, knees bent, savoring her first tournament victory this year. Then she shook Oudin's hand and surged toward the side fence to embrace her grandparents."It means a lot," said Larcher de Brito, when asked about winning the Orange Bowl, the first Portuguese player to do so. "It's been a great tournament, it's been a great week.
My family's been here supporting me, my grandparents, and I've felt a lot of support and felt really good throughout the whole week."
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