Alas though, this time Serena Williams did not melt down and the former No. 1 had to settle for runner up in the Oz Open, after she lost the final. 4-6 6-3, 2-6.

“Of course disappointed, I mean, when you lose in the final of a Grand Slam, especially in three sets, and I got a few opportunities that I haven’t been able to take,” Henin said.“But this feeling of disappointment cannot take advantage on all the things I’ve done in the last few weeks. And it’s just more than what I could expect for. I just have to remember that.

“Even if it’s quite soon after the match now, I’m sure there will be a lot of positive things I can think about in a few days. It’s been almost perfect. Just the last step, I couldn’t make it.”

It really was almost perfect for Henin after she came back from almost a two year absence. Retiring on May 2008, the tour really hasn’t been the same without her. Too many nondescript beautiful Eastern Europeans competing along with the Williams Sisters dominated the tour and not enough of the pizzazz Henin brought to the table.

Maybe that’s why the press went ga-ga for Melanie Oudin at the US Open. The sport needed an everywoman – an average sized powerhouse that tramples the competition.

With Henin, it has it back.

“She can go really far,” said Williams after the final match. “As you saw today, she took me to the umpteenth level. She clearly hasn’t like lost a step at all since she’s been gone.

“So I feel like I played a girl who’s been on the tour for the past five years without a break.”

Henin being back the sport has someone all fans can love. She’s not a model, nor does she act like a superstar. Rather, you have the girl next door, who hasn’t changed since the world first saw her back in 1999.

Now we may see a new Henin, who will pick and choose her matches, much like Clijsters, who could not follow up her Open win. She says she will play in Indian Wells in March and then look forward to Roland Garros in May, so obviously this is just the beginning.

Yet, the tour has their star back, as Henin looks refreshed from her absence from the game and she knows there’s plenty of work to be done if she wants to be No. 1 again.

“I’ll be focused on what I have to improve in the next few weeks, the next few months,” she said. “I’ve only played two tournaments. It’s the end of January. The season is still very long. I want to enjoy every moment I spend on the court and be very smart about the calendar and everything.

“Winning big tournaments, just get better, get better, get better. That’s my motivation, and the rest comes. If I get better, if I improve, if I work hard, the rest will come. So I’m not focused on who’s No. 1 or whatever at the moment or where I can be in a few months.

“I have some goals, of course, but I just don’t want to look too far. Everything went pretty fast, fast enough already in the last four weeks. It’s just time to calm down and think about the future.”

And with that, another successful comeback is in the books and the women’s tour is so much better for it.

Yup, Melanie Oudin is a star in the making.

And after her fourth round victory, she is the shining light of the 2009 US Open.

But if you ask her, fame doesn’t matter. In fact, all these victory hasn’t changed the 17 year-old. She’s still just a normal kid.

“It’s not hard for me,” Oudin said. “I’ve always been like this. So just because all of this is happening, it’s not like I’m going to change the person. I just love to play tennis and I’m doing well and I’m winning. That’s the only thing that’s changing.”

Her smile is so refreshing. In a sport filled with self-absorbed personalities, Oudin is the breath of fresh air. Serena Williams can be prickly when her game is not up to snuff and Maria Sharapova has become more and more a narcissist. Even Venus Williams, who always has been very nice, doesn’t have the same youthful exuberance of 10 years ago.

No, that goes to Oudin, who plays each match like she just won the US Open.  Some may say that she is showing up her opponent, but her cheering is natural and something that comes out because frankly she’s never done it before.

We all have dreams, and Oudin’s is to be a star tennis player. With her four victories in the past week, she’s become that and now has to look ahead when the competition will get just a little harder.

But she believes in herself and keeps the word “Believe” on her purple and yellow sneakers. It’s that motto that drives her and the reason why she is still playing in Flushing.

“Going into the tournament,” she said, “I did believe that I could compete with these girls, but it was just figuring out a way to win in these tough matches and these pressure situations actually coming through and winning.

“So now, even if I get a set down, I still, like, believe in myself and my game. I know that if I fight as hard as I can, do the best I can, hopefully I can do it.”

Oudin’s charm is matched by her skill. She is not the biggest player in the world, nor is she the hardest hitter. But she may be the most fearless. As her back gets against the wall, this young lady comes out swinging. In each of her matches this week, Oudin dropped the first set, only to fight back.

“I don’t actually mean to lose the first set,” Oudin said. “I sometimes just start off slowly, I guess. Maybe I’m a little nervous and all this stuff.

“I think it does help me because I’ve been in that situation many times of losing the first set and being able to come back and win. Because I do well with forgetting about the first one and starting over like it’s a totally new match, so I forgot about the first set, and I’m just going to start off and my mind is going to be just on what’s happening right then.”

She is so impressive that the stars are taking notice. Venus and Serena Williams both said some nice things abut her yesterday and the Swiss Master, Roger Federer gave her props today after his straight-set win over Tommy Robredo.

“She’s beaten great players on the way now,” Federer said. “I think it’s kind of nice someone is coming up that we haven’t heard of, because so many of the women are known. I think it’s very exciting and very needed on the woman’s side.
“I haven’t seen all her matches, but the quality of players she’s beat is fantastic. Today, the way she fought and stayed with [Nadia] Petrova was very nice to say.”

No one knows if Oudin will last past the Quarterfinals, but it’s conceivable that she can advance to the finals, because of all the upsets in her bracket.

Mainly though thanks to her own work, by taking out Elena Dementieva, Sharapova and Petrova, Oudin has cleared the way for her own path to the finals.

Yet even if she doesn’t, it’s safe to say Oudin has become a star already and in 2009, she’s become the shining beacon of the Open.