Brengle Stars as U.S. continues to shine at Wimbledon

Day 3 at Wimbledon proved to be one that Madison Brengle will never forget. 

The 27-year-old scored an impressive victory over two-time Wimbledon champion and No. 11 seed Petra Kvitova in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. 

Kvitova was slated as a favorite this year, winning the title at the Birmingham grass-court tournament prior to her showing at the All England club – an inspiring victory that came in her just her second tournament since suffering an injury to her left (playing) hand during a knife attack in late 2016. But on Wednesday, Brengle was up to the task. 

While a 2007 Wimbledon girls’ singles finalist, Brengle only gained her first Wimbledon main-draw singles win as a pro on Monday, against Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands. Wednesday’s win is the farthest that the Delaware native has advanced so far this year in any Grand Slam event and marks the fourth time in her career she has reached the third round or better at a major. 

For her effort, Brengle will next face No. 21 seed Caroline Garcia and she looks to match her best-ever Slam showing – a fourth-round result at the 2015 Australian Open.

In addition to Brengle, seeds Venus Williams, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson all posted wins as Team USA continued a solid start to the year’s third Grand Slam. 

Five-time champion and No. 10 seed Venus Williams claimed her second-round match in three sets against China’s Wang Qiang, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Venus, buoyed by a dominant showing on serve – she won 83 percent of her first-serve points – started slow but rallied late in the second set to eventually pull away from Wang, currently ranked No. 55 in the world. 

Venus will take on rising Japanese star Naomi Osaka in the third round.

Querrey, seeded No. 24 and a 2016 Wimbledon Quaterfinalist, defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in four sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Querrey’s 32 aces overshadowed and outperformed Basilashvili’s six aces. Next up for the No. 24 seed is a high-powered third-round matchup against Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. 

Querrey’s compatriot Johnson also took his match in four sets on Wednesday, over Moldova’s Radu Albot. Johnson, who started strong, overcame a third-set hiccup to put away Albot in comfortable fashion, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. The former USC star, seeded 26th, draws No. 7 Marin Cilic in the round of 32.

In other Day 3 matches, after a tough fight, Madison Keys fell to Camila Giorgi of Italy, 6-4, 6-7(10), 6-1, saving four match points before Giorgi overcame her in the third set, and Donald Young fell to Rafael Nadal in three spirited sets.

Day 4 at Wimbledon sees the return of seeded players John Isner, Jack Sock and CoCo Vandeweghe, along with Jared Donaldson, Ryan Harrison, Varvara Lepchenko, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Christina McHale, Alison Riske, Shelby Rogers and Frances Tiafoe. 

In doubles play, Bob and Mike Bryan begin their pursuit of a fourth Wimbledon title against Australians Marc Polmans and Andrew Whittington.