Madison Brengle
Madison Brengle (born April 3, 1990) is an American professional tennis player. Her biggest success came in early 2015 when she reached her first WTA Tour final in January, followed by a fourth round major event appearance at the Australian Open. In May of that year, she reached her career-high singles ranking of No. 35. Overall, she has won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour, and 19 singles and seven doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. In August 2007, she was ranked fourth in the world in juniors. Brengle then toiled for years in the ITF Circuit. Over the course of 24 consecutive majors from 2008 to 2014, she failed to make it out of the pre-tournament qualifier. The streak ended when she earned a wildcard for the 2014 US Open main draw, which she capitalized on for her first major match-win. Her ranking soon rose into the top 100 for the first time in September 2014. Early life Brengle was born and raised in Dover, Delaware, and she is Jewish. Her mother (Gaby née Gamberg) coaches her, her father is Dan Brengle, and she has a brother named David. Playing style Brengle is what some coaches call a scrappy player, and her game is built around counter-punching and outlasting her opponents in long rallies while waiting for her opponent's error. When serving she uses an abbreviated service motion. Her forehand has a low follow-through. Sometimes on her backhand she will drive the ball flat, using a half-swing. Brengle moves quickly around the court, and is willing to battle to win her matches. Junior career As a teenager, Brengle participated in an experimental USTA training regimen. In 2006, she won the Easter Bowl doubles championships with Kristy Frilling, defeating Sanaz Marand and Ashley Weinhold in the final. In 2007, Brengle reached the Australian Open girls' singles final, before going down to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Brengle and Julia Cohen were the top seeds at the 2007 French Open girls' doubles competition, but the team lost in the first round. Seeded seventh, Brengle lost in the final of the Wimbledon girls' singles competition to Urszula Radwańska in three sets. Brengle and Chelsey Gullickson reached the girls' doubles semifinals then lost to top seeds and eventual champions Pavlyuchenkova and Radwańska. In August 2007, she was ranked fourth in the world in juniors. Professional career 2005–2006: early years, first ITF Circuit title 2005 saw Brengle win her first ITF title, when, as a 15-year-old, she won a tournament in Baltimore. In the final, she defeated Beau Jones. 2007–2008: Grand Slam debut In 2007, Brengle received wildcard entries into two major tournaments, losing in the first round both times. Accepted into the Australian Open main draw, Brengle lost to ninth-seeded Patty Schnyder. She was allowed another wildcard into the US Open, where she lost to Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Brengle and Ashley Weinhold were doubles wildcards, but lost in the first round of the doubles competition to Stéphanie Foretz and Yaroslava Shvedova.