The 20-year-old American, Melanie Oudin, has been handed a wildcard for the French Open, an event that starts later this month. Oudin is an incredible 10,000/1 gamble on Betfair Tennis.
The former world junior number two earned the invitation to Roland Garros by picking up the most ranking points during three recent USTA Pro Circuit clay court events in her homeland.
Oudin, currently ranked 270 in the world, won the title in Charlottesville, Virginia, to edge past her closest rival, Maria Sanchez, who was beaten in the final at Indian Harbour Beach.
Oudin beat Irina Falconi 7-6 3-6 6-1 in last month’s final in Charlottesville, to secure the fourth title of her career, and the first since she won in Raleigh, North Carolina, three years ago.
Her main claim to fame was her run to the quarter-finals of the US Open, in 2009, when, as a 17-year-old wildcard for the Flushing Meadows tournament, she beat the fourth seed, Elena Dementieva 5-7 6-4 6-3, before shocking Maria Sharapova 3-6 6-4 7-5 in the third round.
She then defeated the 11th seed, Nadia Petrova, before being beaten 6-2 6-2 by Caroline Wozniacki in the last-eight.
Oudin reached a rankings high of 31 in April 2010, but her career had been on a downward spiral until her recent revival.
She failed to get past the first round on her last two visits to Paris, in 2010 and 2011, and has failed to win a match in her three appearances at the Australian Open.
However, in her one appearance at Wimbledon, in 2009, she made it through to the fourth round, beating Jelena Jankovic along the way, before eventually being knocked out by Agnieszka Radwanska, one of the favourites in the tennis bets.
