American tennis pro Melanie Oudin says she will have a procedure Thursday for a heart condition, then surgery later this month for an eye problem.
“I don’t think my luck could get any worse. I just can’t wait for 2014 to be over,” the 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinalist said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday. “A heart thing this week, and then an eye thing after that. I have lots going on.”
The 23-year-old Oudin said that for more than a year, she has been experiencing occasional “episodes” of an accelerated heartbeat, usually during – or right after – matches.
“I was convinced it was some sort of anxiety,” she said. “It’s been really frustrating. I played through matches having it, because I never really knew what it was. I would try to relax and take some deep breaths and let my body relax, and then I felt better. It kind of sounds like an anxiety attack.”
Oudin said she went for a medical check last year on her heart, but “everything came back completely normal, and I had every test in the book.”