Venus and Serena Who? Oudin Sisters Should Become Next Big Thing

MARIETTA, Ga. -- We'll never know. At least, that's what the Oudin twins say, because they claim they don't wish to become the blond-haired version of the Williams sisters for the next generation of tennis enthusiasts.

Well, that's what they claim. They're both 17.

As a result, they'll both likely change their minds during the next few years about boyfriends, girlfriends, hairstyles, clothing, Web sites -- and even about that scenario involving the Williams sisters.

Let's hope the Oudin sisters are as daffy as their peers. If so, they could be a duo for the ages, joining that other one from Compton, Calif.

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There is Melanie Oudin, of course. She spent the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., evolving into a 5-foot-6 combination of the Immaculate Reception, Miracle On Ice and North Carolina State over Phi Slama Jama. She tried to remain all of those things and Cinderella in the quarterfinals on Wednesday night, but her glass sneaker cracked. She lost 6-2, 6-2 to No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki. Prior to that, she ignored her No. 70 ranking to surge past foes at Nos. 36, 13 and 4. She even shocked Maria Sharapova, a former No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion.

Then there is Katherine Oudin, the fraternal twin. She is more interested in becoming a fabulous doctor than a famous athlete. And, unlike Melanie, who opted for home schooling to concentrate on serves and volleys, Katherine wants to play on the collegiate level. She will graduate next year from a private high school in Marietta, located 30 miles to the north of Atlanta . The high school is called The Walker School, and it has been a perennial tennis power for decades. Not only that, Katherine has been the No. 1 player for the Wolverines throughout her four years. She didn't lose her first match until last year, which means she is pretty good.

Which makes you wonder: If Katherine decided to concentrate on tennis as much as Melanie, would Katherine be as prolific?

"Oh, I think she would be right along with Melanie," said Jan Steffen, 60, leaning forward in her office chair at Walker. During her 25 years at the school, Steffen has coached the Wolverines girls' tennis team to six state championships. She just missed a seventh title this year, and she has trained a slew of big-time college players. So it is significant that Steffen says of Katherine, "She's a hard worker. She's coachable. She's just like Melanie in that she has that drive and that determination, but they're just focused in different directions."

Which makes you wonder: If the Oudin sisters were focused in the same direction, could they become the Williams sisters?

"I think so. I think so," said Steffen, quickly, while nodding. "I think it would be a different way. The Williams sisters are so powerful and so strong, and Katherine and Melanie -- they both would have more of the mental edge and the footwork edge. And I don't know. Serena [Williams] is really in a zone right now, but I think it would be awesome to see Serena and Melanie play."


Maybe it will happen.

Just not this year at the U.S. Open.

Serena is still alive in the tournament, but Melanie is heading home after nine days as the queen of Queens and all parts near the Hudson River. She was pleasantly mobbed in Times Square, and whenever she surfaced within a couple of serves of Arthur Ashe Stadium, she was the person of that moment. Her name was in headlines across the universe. Plus, she was credited for the rise in the Saturday-to-Monday television ratings for the U.S. Open by 18 percent compared to last year.

Too bad Oudin-mania will end about the time her plane scoots down the runway at the Atlanta International Airport.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the attitude among most in Atlanta regarding sports, it's like this: If it doesn't look like a Bulldog, act like a Bulldog or bark like a Bulldog, forget it. So Melanie's exploits at the U.S. Open were more famous outside of her own region than inside. The only way she could have helped her cause locally was to change the word "BELIEVE" on the side of her pink-and-white sneakers to something like "Uga VI Rocks." That's Uga VI, as in the worshiped mascot they parade around the field during University of Georgia football games.

Yes, there was that energetic scene at the Racquet Club Of The South, where an estimated 150 or so folks gathered to scream, yell, and plead in front of one of the tennis club's seven television sets. There also were five local TV cameras recording it all, along with four photographers and a few reporters.

But a couple of things: First, this is Melanie's tennis club, where she does landscaping to the grounds when she isn't practicing on the same courts as most of those who were screaming, yelling and pleading. Second, the tennis club is in Norcross, located several expressways away from Melanie's native Marietta, where there was no visible or hidden buzz surrounding her rise to national and international stardom. The same was true everywhere that wasn't the Racquet Club Of The South.

This wasn't Atlanta-area folks against Melanie.

This was Atlanta-area folks, period.

They've loved the Falcons, but mostly when they've been the Dirty Birds or featured Deion Sanders or Michael Vick before his dogfighting mess. The Braves had their moments, but only during the early years of the tomahawk chop and chant. There also was that stretch when the Hawks entered hearts, but that was during the peak of Dominique Wilkins, the Human Highlight Film. And Evander Holyfield only became bigger than life in his hometown after Mike Tyson chewed on his ear.

Other than football, you need a gimmick around here. You need something special. You need the Oudin sisters becoming the William sisters, and that would be fascinating for the universe -- and even for Atlanta.

Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning," an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta.