FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. - Melanie Oudin returned to the scene of the greatest performance of her young tennis career Monday sporting a new haircut, a new inspirational word on her sneakers (with “Courage” supplanting “Believe”) and, having celebrated her 18th birthday, “actually more like a professional instead of just a junior,” as she put it.

Granted the honor of opening proceedings on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court when the U.S. Open got under way, Oudin needed just 56 minutes to dismiss her overwhelmed opponent, 6-3, 6-0, allowing Olga Savchuk a mere two points in the second set, which was over in a merciful 18 minutes.

At 5-6 and 130 pounds, Oudin, a native of Marietta, Ga., can hardly be described as a giant in women’s tennis, a sport that’s increasingly dominated by players 5-10 and taller. But during her improbable run to the U.S. Open’s quarterfinals last year, Oudin toppled her share of towering figures -Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva, among them.

Oudin’s 2010 campaign hasn’t been as memorable, with more losses (20) than wins (18). And she has yet to conjure comparable magic at the majors, losing in the first round of the Australian and French Opens and advancing just one round at Wimbledon.

Nonetheless, during Monday’s post-match interview Oudin accentuated the positive of nearly every experience she has had since seizing the U.S. Open’s headlines at 17. “I’ve been improving my game,” Oudin noted. “I think my serve has gotten better. I’m working on a lot of things.”

But when prodded, she conceded there has been a downside to her sudden success.

“Of course everyone loves to be the underdog because you can go out there, no matter who you’re playing, you’re not supposed to win,” Oudin said. “So you can go out there and play with everything that you have and just completely go for it, and no one expects anything from you. I think that’s when everyone plays their best.”

Oudin confessed to a bout of nerves on the eve of Monday’s match and took the court with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. But she took a few deep breaths and reminded herself it was a match like any other, rather than the curtain-lifter on the U.S. Open.

And after breaking Savchuk’s serve a second time, Oudin took charge, steamrolling through the first four games of the second set without surrendering a point and closing with a two-fisted backhand winner down the line.