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.
Brengle 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Brengle won her first WTA Tour match of the season in August by defeating former top-20 player Flavia Pennetta, then losing to Elena Dementieva in the following round at the Los Angeles WTA tournament. In addition, earlier in the year, the American reached the second round of the 2007 French Open qualifying draw.
On the ITF Circuit, Brengle reached three out of four singles finals in the first four months of the year. Brengle and Kristy Frilling won an ITF title in Augusta, Georgia. In the final, the team defeated Angelina Gabueva and Alisa Kleybanova.
In 2008, Brengle received a wildcard into the French Open (after winning a playoff tournament), defeating Ahsha Rolle in the finals. The US Open and the French Open agreed to exchange wildcards in their respective tournaments.
2009–2013: No appearances at the majors
From 2009 to 2013, Brengle failed to qualify for the main draw in any of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
In 2011, Brengle won her second ITF title at Hammond, LA. She also reached the final at another ITF event at Rancho Santa Fe, California. At College Park, she defeated recent Wimbledon third rounder Melinda Czink to win her first WTA Tour match since Quebec City in 2009.
In 2012, Brengle won her third ITF title at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. She also won the doubles title with Paula Kania of Poland.