Kvitova stunned by U.S. upstart

LONDON — Madison Brengle knew that her opponent, Petra Kvitova, was a two-time Wimbledon champion and a popular pick to win the title again this year.

Brengle also was aware that she herself never had won so much as one maindraw match at the All England Club until this week.

This, instead, is all the 27year-old from Dover, Delaware, was focused on as she began playing Kvitova on Thursday: Please just let me win a game. The 95th-ranked Brengle did just that — and much, much more, stunning the 11th-seeded Kvitova 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to reach the third round at Wimbledon.

The reason for Brengle’s preoccupation with taking merely a single game? In her Wimbledon debut in 2015, she lost to Venus Williams 6-0, 6-0.

“So, like, that’s always in my head when I’m out here,” Brengle said, pointing a finger at her right temple. “It’s like, ‘Oh, my goodness, don’t do that ever again!’ That was really tough for me.”

Kvitova was one of a halfdozen seeded women to lose on Day 3, a group that also included No. 15 Elena Vesnina (beaten by new mom Victoria Azarenka, a former No. 1), No. 17 Madison Keys, No. 18 Anastasija Sevastova, No. 22 Barbora Strycova and No. 25 Carla Suarez Navarro.

Venus Williams dropped the first set to Qiang Wang, but rallied to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the third round.

Britain’s biggest hope for a women’s champion, Johanna Konta trailed early but managed to come back for a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 10-8 victory over Donna Vekic.

The action was much more straightforward in the men’s draw, with straight-set victories by defending champion Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, who has won the last 26 Grand Slam sets he has played. No, 9 Kei Nishikori and No. 7 Marin Cilic also advanced.