With Wimbledon run, team tennis success, Madison Brengle rising again

Dover, Del., native Madison Brengle reached the third round at Wimbledon earlier this month for the first time. She does not want to make it any more than it is.

Athletes are fond of saying that they take things one day at a time. But in Brengle's case, having outplayed Sloane Stephens to a 5-2 set win a night earlier, Brengle on Monday put the emphasis on really: "I'm really taking things one thing at a time."

Brengle did not name a specific event that made her so adamant about that approach. She started on the tour in 2005 at age 15. It took her two years to qualify for a Grand Slam event, which she did four times in 19 months before it took her six years to make another one.

"There's a lot of ups and downs," Brengle said. "And sometimes if you have a little bit of a rough patch, then you might start looking at, when is this going to stop. I feel pretty lucky to be able to do what I do."

Another down was a cancer scare in 2014, when Brengle had a cancerous spot removed from her leg and missed five weeks. The next year, she reached her career-high ranking of 35, to which she has not returned. She now knows better than to get ahead of herself.

"Maybe just for my sanity," she said. "I don't know, I don't feel like it does me any good to look far ahead of time. I just try to enjoy when I'm playing and make the best of it."

Most recently, she visited Philadelphia this week to play World TeamTennis for the Washington Kastles. After she lost to Stephens in Washington last Friday, 5-4, she earned revenge Sunday at Hagan Arena, showing the consistent groundstrokes that have her playing close to the best tennis of her career.

In her first six tries, Brengle did not qualify for Wimbledon. When she did, in 2015, she lost to Venus Williams, 6-0, 6-0. It took her eight years to win a match in the main draw, which she did earlier this month against Richel Hogenkamp.

She did not have to wait nearly as long for her second win. Facing No. 11 seed Petra Kvitova in the second round, Brengle pulled off a three-set upset.

"She's really tough on the grass with her lefty serve, so I tried really hard to counter that and get as many returns in play as possible," Brengle said in an email on her travels following the win. "It was so fun playing out on that court, and the crowd was into it."

It was a significant moment for Brengle, who said she appreciates being on the court more now. Her friends congratulated her from back home. Her mother attended the match. Her coach, Pat Harrison, encouraged her progress.

This came in a year Brengle started by beating Serena Williams in Auckland, New Zealand, a couple of weeks before Williams rolled to the Australian Open title.

"It's been a pretty good year," Brengle said. "There's ups and downs. It's an individual sport. That's part of it. But the good has definitely been pretty good."