Adidas AG indicated that revenue and traffic to its miadidas website have both surged five-fold due to the success of American teenager Melanie Oudin's performance at the U.S. Open tennis tournament. Oudin, 17, lost her match Wednesday night to ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in New York, ending a run that took her past 2006 champion Maria Sharapova and Olympic gold-medal winner Elena Dementieva.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, adidas said the company decided before the tournament to feature the 17-year-old Oudin and 22nd-ranked man Sam Querrey on the Internet site, which allows people to design and purchase their own tennis shoes.
Oudin, according to adidas, chose her pink and yellow version of the company's Barricade V sneaker, with “Believe” written on the heel. Adidas signed her a year ago when she turned professional. Oudin also endorses Wilson tennis rackets.
“She's done very well for us,” Adidas spokeswoman Linda Murphy said in an interview with Bloomberg. Shoes on the site, which is only available in the U.S., range in price from $95 a pair to $240.
Oudin was ranked 70th in the world by the WTA Tour before the tournament.
