Melanie Oudin is getting that old feeling back on grass courts

Reporting from Wimbledon, England — Melanie Oudin began her magical 2009 summer of fun by making it to the fourth round of Wimbledon. She was barely 18.

Then at the U.S. Open she upset four higher-seeded players and made it to the quarterfinals, giving the tournament 10 days of fun buzz. Since then, she hasn’t won a major tournament match.

Grass suits her, though. She took balls early Monday, punched her groundstrokes deep and with accuracy accurately and easily beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany, 6-3, 6-0.

“I really like the courts here,” Oudin said. “I don’t know how, but I tend to peak at Wimbledon. I think I played a pretty solid match. . . . The feeling is back like last year.”

Oudin also has much longer hair than she did in New York last summer. She is letting it grow as long as possible and then plans to have it cut before the U.S. Open to donate to a charity that provides wigs to cancer patients.

But don’t ask her to talk about her 2009 U.S. Open run. “I am not answering any more questions about the U.S. Open,” she said. “It’s way over. I have to concentrate on this year.”

New dad, long trip

Taylor Dent of Newport Beach is a new father who hasn’t seen 5-month-old son Declan in over a month. Dent stayed in Europe after the French Open to prepare for Wimbledon and doesn’t have the travel budget of fellow new father Roger Federer, who brings his twin daughters around the world on private jets.

“This trip has been hard,” Dent said.

It will last a little longer too. After winning three qualifying matches just to get into the main draw, Dent on Monday beat Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 7-5.

She can dream

Justine Henin returned to Wimbledon for the first time since 2007, winning, 6-4, 6-3, over Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia. Wimbledon is the only major Henin hasn’t won and, having returned to tennis in January after an 18-month retirement, she isn’t expecting a championship just yet.

“Winning would be fantastic,” she said. “That remains a dream for me.”

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