Serena Williams saw the unexpected happen in her match against Madison Brengle at the ASB Classic in Auckland. The world No. 2 could not recover from her errors.
Serena Williams is one of the greatest on the WTA Tour.
She is undoubtedly a favorite in every match she plays and was expected to cruise past fellow American Madison Brengle. Her match against Brengle, however, was littered with errors and her young American counterpart was able to remain consistent.
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Brengle won 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.
Under high winds, Williams suffered a large number of errors throughout the match. Some counts had the errors upwards of 88. The world No. 2 was unable to recover the match despite a hard fought second set.
Williams said that, “Eighty-eight is way too many unforced errors. You can’t expect to win hitting that many errors.”
Brengle remained steadfast throughout, taking care to focus on each and every point. The 26-year-old American tennis player said that, “I just played for every point. I definitely tried to be consistent, and I tried to use the slice and hit as many balls as a I could.” Her consistency won her the match and a deeper bid into the tournament in Auckland. She is currently the world No. 72 on the WTA Tour and aims to rise in the rankings.
The upset is entirely unexpected in Auckland, leaving a gap for several players to take advantage of at the WTA Tour event. With the Australian Open just weeks away, the loss is a major disappointment for Serena Williams. She will remain a strong favorite to win the upcoming major tournament, but a deeper run at the ASB Classic would have been beneficial to the American tennis star.
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