Melanie Oudin returns a shot in Wednesday's 6-2, 6-2 loss. (Nick Laham/Getty Images)Two teenagers survived to play another day but most popular teen did not as Melanie Oudin's spirited run at the U.S. Open sputtered with a straight-sets loss on Wednesday.
Oudin, 17, was whipped 6-2, 6-2 by ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
"I'm sorry that I won against Melanie today," Wozniacki told the partisan crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I know that many of you wanted Melanie to win."
"This has been a great experience for me," Oudin said. "I had a great run here and I hope to come back next year and do even better."
The American teenager, ranked 70th in the world, had become the Cinderella story of the tournament with stunning upsets of Elena Dementieva, the Olympic gold medallist at Beijing, Maria Sharapova, winner of the 2006 U.S. Open, and Nadia Petrova.
Oudin knocked off the highly-regarded Russians in dramatic fashion, dropping the first set in each of the three matches before staging determined comebacks.
Swiss Precision
Five-time defending champ Roger Federer of Switzerland swept past Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (6) to advance to the semifinals. Federer has won 39 matches in a row at Flushing Meadows. His next opponent is fourth-seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, a 7-6 (2), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 winner over No. 10 Fernando Verdasco of Spain. Djokovic lost to Federer in last year's semis and the 2007 final.
Federer has reached the semifinals in a record 22 straight Grand Slams.
"It was a lot," she said. "These past two weeks have been really different for me.
"I have gone from being just a normal, like, tennis player to almost everyone in the United States knowing who I am now. [But] I don't think that affected my tennis game tonight at all."
Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium earned the right to face 19-year-old Wozniacki in the semifinals with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine.
Wickmayer, also 19, tallied twice as many winners (31-15) as Bondarenko.
"Before this, my best [Grand Slam] result was second round, so, of course, when you get to the third, fourth round, you start surprising yourself," Wickmayer said. "But actually, I have been staying pretty calm."
Wickmayer, ranked 50th in the world, faces a stern challenge in Wozniacki, who leads the WTA Tour in matches won this season.
"I have worked really hard for this," Wickmayer said.
Fellow Belgian hopeful and former champion Kim Clijsters will face two-time defending champion Serena Williams of the U.S. in the other women's semifinal.
With files from The Associated Press
