Struggling Kenin, Andreescu upset at Wimbledon

Madison Brengle ousted No. 4 seed Sofia Kenin today in the
second round at Wimbledon. 2019 photo by Paul Bauman

   Two of the top five women's seeds, both Grand Slam champions who have struggled this year, lost at Wimbledon today.

   In an all-American matchup, Madison Brengle ousted No. 4 seed Sofia Kenin 6-2, 6-4 in the second round. Kenin has won three Challenger singles titles in Northern California and Brengle two.

   Also, Alize Cornet of France routed No. 5 seed Bianca Andreescu of Canada 6-2, 6-1 in the first round. Cornet, who stunned Serena Williams in the third round at Wimbledon in 2014, ended a three-match losing streak at the All England Club.

   Neither Kenin, who won the 2020 Australian Open at 21, nor Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion at 19, has reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament this year. In fact, Andreescu hasn't survived the second round in a 2021 major. The last Grand Slam tourney of the year, the U.S. Open, is scheduled for Aug. 30 to Sept. 12.

   Another major champion, 28-year-old Fresno, Calif., product Sloane Stephens, defeated Kristie Ahn, a 29-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 7-5, 6-3 in the second round.

   In a rematch of the 2018 Wimbledon men's final, top-ranked Novak Djokovic dismissed Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the second round. The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson, 35, had right knee surgery in September 2019 and February 2020.

   Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native, eliminated No. 11 seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-5.

   The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Querrey, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2017 and quarterfinalist in 2016 and 2019, clubbed 22 aces and won 90 percent of the points on his first serve (56 of 62). Carreno Busta, a two-time U.S. Open semifinalist, fell to 0-6 at Wimbledon.

   Wild card Andy Murray, the Wimbledon champion in 2013 and 2016, outlasted qualifier Oscar Otte of Germany 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.

   Murray won the first of his 46 tour-level singles titles in San Jose in 2006 at 18 and repeated the following year. He also won the Challenger in Aptos, Calif., a 45-minute drive south of San Jose, in 2005 at 18.