Her greatest success in a Grand Slam so far came in the first round of the 2006 Wimbledon Championships when she came back from one set down to beat the world No.14, Francesca Schiavone, 3–6 6–3 6–4, in a match witnessed by tennis legend, Martina Navratilova. At the time, South was ranked at 305 in the world and had reached the main draw courtesy of a wild card. Not since the third round of the 1998 tournament, when Samantha Smith beat the world No.7 Conchita Martínez, had a British woman beaten an opponent of a similar ranking at Wimbledon. She lost in the second round to Shenay Perry, the world No. 62, 6–7(5) 2–6. Outside of Wimbledon, South reached the first round of the 2009 Australian Open without needing to qualify and without a wild card. This was the first time in her career that her ranking was high enough to grant her access to a Grand Slam main draw without a wild card. She lost to world No.17, Marion Bartoli in round one.
South's style of gameplay centres around her powerful serve and her aggressive ground strokes. She regularly serves aces and gets many more free points from other serves which can't be returned, making her a difficult player to break when she's playing at her best. However because her serve is so high-risk, at times she serves a large number of double faults and when a couple of these come in the same game it puts her at a sizable disadvantage. In her first round match at Wimbledon 2008 against Alona Bondarenko she served a total of 10 aces, 7 double faults and won 68% of the points behind her first serve. She also hit 45 winners and 48 unforced errors during this match, a statistic which demonstrates her aggressive, high-risk attitude to tennis. Renowned tennis coach, Nick Bollettieri, saw Mel play during her first round match against his charge, Michelle Larcher de Brito, in the 2008 French Open and commented: "She can serve well and has good ground strokes. She moves well for a big girl but you can see that lateral movement is a problem for her. Whenever she's pushed out wide she can struggle."
stats
Country : United Kingdom Great Britain
Residence : England New Malden, Surrey
Date of birth : 3 May 1986 (1986-05-03)
Place of birth : England Kingston, Surrey
Height : 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro : 2004
Retired : Active
Plays : Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
