Oudin Should Be Left Alone In Divorce Story

Written by: Staff on 10th September 2009

Oudin Should Be Left Alone In Divorce Story |

Over the last two weeks, Melanie Oudin’s life has become very public. The teen from Marietta, GA described herself as a “normal kid”, who does regular things like going to the movies and playing her Wii.

Apparently, Oudin is also going through a very normal thing that many teen-aged Americans endure: Her parents are getting a divorce.

A story that was broken by SI.com after midnight, Oudin’s father, John filed divorce papers over a year ago against her mother Leslie, on the count of adultery. Leslie was allegedly having a affair with Melanie’s coach Brian de Villiers. According to SI, the proceedings are ongoing and a mediation is set for Dec. 7.

All of this is well and good, but it has nothing to do with Oudin and what she did on the court at Arthur Ashe. Thousands of couples get divorced every year and the children are the ones that suffer. Instead of dragging this through the mud – as many tabloids will – this should just be a footnote to a nice story. Melanie has not done anything wrong here; it’s her parents’ lives and they are not public figures.

Unfortunately, many newspapers won’t feel that way and to sell papers they will treat this story as if Oudin was the one who is getting divorced. She may be dragged through the mud and what is supposed to be a private affair will become very public.

That’s a shame. Besides being a hard working and talented tennis player, Oudin seems to be very grounded and natural with the media. Her answers seems to come from the heart rather than canned clichés. A public scandal like this may change her attitude, which is not good for the sport, the press that wants to cover the play on the courts, and most importantly, Melanie herself.

If this becomes a bigger story than it should be, Melanie will be the one answering questions every time she takes the court. Instead of working hard to improve her game – and moving up the standings – she will have to go through this muck.

And for what? Because a dying industry needs to drag down a 17 year-old in order to survive? Rafael Nadal is being left alone as his parents are splitting up. Oudin should get the same courtesy.

Fortunately for her, she will have some time away from the media spotlight. Sure, she will be competing in other tournaments over the next few months, but only the die hard tennis fans will be watching. The next time she will be on a wide-scale stage will be at the Australian Open in January. By that time the divorce story may be on the back burner and Oudin can get on with her life as an up and coming tennis star.

In the mean time, remember the only crime she committed was winning four rounds at the US Open. She has nothing to be sorry about and her family should be left alone.

Topics: Adultery, Answering Questions, Arthur Ashe, Couples, Divorce Papers, Divorce Story, Footnote, Getting A Divorce, Marietta Ga, Mediation, Melanie Oudin, Muck, Mud, Private Affair, Public Scandal, Shame, Tabloids, Talented Tennis, Tennis Player, Wii

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Megan Anne says:

September 10, 2009 at 1:42 pm

So true. I hate how the media feels the need to constantly make stories out of personal issues that should be just that personal.
Derek Felix says:

September 10, 2009 at 10:35 pm

@Megan Anne –

Agreed. It’s unfortunate how the media acts here. Like vultures ready to jump on any little thing they can to make a buck. It’s a complete disgrace.

Leave Oudin alone. She is the best thing to happen to the women’s game in a long time. Ditto Wozniacki who’s smile, charm and persona along with intelligent game can only be a plus.
borehamwood says:

September 11, 2009 at 2:30 pm

Honestly, i had not read anything about this in the media until it was mentioned hear. Even on the telecasts i’ve watched, do not remember hearing this being discussed.
Joe McDonald says:

September 11, 2009 at 4:26 pm

They won’t especially on the telecasts, but you can find the story here:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/tennis/09/09/oudin.family/index.html

And ESPN and other papers have covered it, including the New York Times.