Madison Brengle stuns Serena Williams at the ASB Classic

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After a decade on the WTA tour, Madison Brengle pulled off her first Top 3 victory by winning a thrilling three-setter against top seed Serena Williams in the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland.

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Serena rocking a black and white version of her 2016 US Open dress

The world No.72 Brengle won five of the last six games in the first set, erasing her initial deficit. In the second set, the 22-time Grand Slam champion Williams needed as many as six set points and a tiebreak to force the decider. The third set went with serve until 5-4, when Brengle broke her fellow American to win the match 6-4 6-7(3) 6-4.

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Disbelief: Madison Brengle’s reaction to winning the match point

Wind played a big role in this match and here’s how Serena expressed her frustration with it, not skipping to acknowledge that her opponent played under the same circumstances:

She obviously did a much better job than I did. I really abhorred the conditions. I don’t think I’ve ever hit 88 errors in my career; I could google that and that’s probably accurate. So there’s no need to look back on such a crappy game!

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Photo evidence of the wind in Auckland

Just like at the 2016 US Open, Serena sported arm sleeves and the Nike Fall Serena Premier Dress, which I call the Circus Dress, because the skirt reminds me of a circus tent. The legend’s footwear of choice were these Nike Flare shoes in purple/silver/rose gold.

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Frustrated Serena Williams fails to make the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic, even though she worked very hard in the off-season

Samantha Crawford congratulated her friend Madison on Twitter:

Serena’s sister also had an unfortunate ending to her Auckland campaign. The second-seeded Venus Williams won her first-round match against Jade Lewis 7-6(2) 6-2 and was supposed to play her second match of the day against Naomi Osaka, but pulled out of the tournament citing a right arm injury.

Jimmie48’s Wednesday’s photos are coming up, but will be a bit late this time, since he’s now flying to Australia, where he will hopefully shoot the Apia International Sydney (we’re still waiting for the credentials).

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