Like millions of other American familes, the Curran clan of Signal Mountain bought a satellite dish for the hundreds of channel choices it offers. The last few days they've only been watching one of them, however.

"We've been glued to the Wimbledon channel," said Anne Willett Curran on Sunday morning. "There are no interruptions so we don't miss a minute of Melanie's matches."

Melanie is 17-year-old Melanie Oudin, Wimbledon's unexpected fortnight fairytale heading into today's 7 a.m. match against 11th seeded Agnieska Radwanska in the round of 16.

Having played three grueling qualifier matches just to make the field, Oudin then stunned sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic on Saturday to reach the fourth round. No wonder the BBC has begun calling the world's 124th ranked player "the giant killer."

But Curran isn't merely a fan of Oudin, who still lives with her parents in Marietta, Ga. Curran is part of Oudin's extended family, a first cousin to Melanie's father John.

"This is all she's ever wanted to do," said Curran, whose own late uncle Frank Willett was a tennis legend in the Scenic City. "Melanie convinced her parents to home-school her so she could spend more time on tennis. She's so determined. But it's like her dad said on Saturday, 'We knew this would happen. Just not now.'"

American tennis has rarely needed a feel-good story more than now. Outside of the Williams sisters -- who've won a combined seven Wimbledon crowns (Venus has five, Serena two) -- the good ol' U.S. of A has one player (Bethanie Mattek-Sands) ranked in the top 50 and another (Jill Craybas) in the top 100.

That's it. And Oudin, despite a gutsy Fed Cup effort against Argentina in February, didn't figure to change that dynamic when Wimbledon began a week ago.

But there she stands this morning, potentially two sets from a probable quarterfinal date with Venus Williams after knocking off 28th ranked Sybille Bammer in the opening round, 74th ranked Yaroslava Shvedova in round two and Jankovic.

"I was just thinking that she was another player and this was any other match -- not on the biggest stage at Wimbledon," said Oudin, who had never won a single match in a Grand Slam tourney before this one, even playing in the juniors of Grand Slam events a year ago.

And yet it also seems to perfect for the girl whose arrival on this earth was beaten by one minute by twin sister, Katherine.

"Here's what kind of person Melanie is," said Curran. "She's being interviewed by a television reporter after an exhibition match in Atlanta last year. The reporter's telling her how great she is and Melanie looks over at Katherine and says, 'My sister's a great player, too.' She's just such a nice kid. Always has a smile on her face."

Rising GPS senior Sarah Evans, one of the South's top 35 players after a strong showing in this past weekend's Southern Closed, is also 17 and has played Katherine Oudin.

"She's really good, too," said Evans of Katherine. "We played in a tournament once. I think she beat me 6-4, 6-2. But Melanie is amazing. I've never played her, but I saw her here at the Champions Club in the 12 (and Under) Nationals a few years ago. She has great power, she can really rip the ball down the line. This is great for American tennis."

It hasn't hurt the American airline industry, either. Melanie's mother, Leslie, caught a flight out of Atlanta on Saturday night to be there for today's match. John followed early Sunday morning. Melanie's longtime coach, Brian de Villiers, has already been forced to twice change departure dates from London due to her unexpected victories.

Yet it's not like she hasn't shocked a few players before. Four years ago she delivered five upsets in the Girls 16 USTA National Hardcourts, despite being only 13.

Asked afterward if she was intimidated by facing girls three years her senior, Melanie said, "It's always been like that. I don't give that consideration. It doesn't matter how big you are. It's who's the better player."

Not surprisingly, the 5-foot-6 Oudin lists recently retired, 5-foot-5 Justine Henin as her tennis idol, saying of the winner of seven Grand Slams, "She proved that you don't have to be six feet tall to be No. 1 in the world."

All of this is certainly playing well at Wimbledon, in Marietta and atop Signal Mountain.

As one Oudin friend told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "(Melanie) has no idea what could come of this ... the money she could earn. It's really just so cute."

Another buddy noted that, "The Williams sisters have been e-mailing Melanie ... they say things like, 'You go, girl.' Melanie can't even believe the Williams sisters even know who she is."

Curran's sons Jackson, 13, and Patrick, 10, also are impressed.

Said Jackson, "I love watching her play, and seeing her talking on TV. She's a normal kid. She's my cousin."

Added Patrick, "She inspires."

It could all end this morning, of course. Fortnight fairytales rarely last long into Wimbledon's second week. But Oudin didn't once pound thousands of tennis balls against the family's garage door to go home quietly. She no doubt wants to stick around to see if Venus Williams will e-mail her if the two meet in the quarterfinals.

But regardless of how long her Wimbledon run continues, Oudin will always be Anne Willett Curran's niece.

"We're having a family reunion in July," she said. "If Melanie's able to be there, she'll be getting lots of hugs."