WIMBLEDON — Madison Brengle has played a lot of memorable tennis matches in her career.

But the one that the 31-year-old from Dover played at Wimbledon on Monday was pretty classic.

And Brengle will probably also remember it because the match still isn’t over.
Brengle twice made big comebacks to keep alive her first-round match with Christina McHale only to have it suspended because of darkness.

With the match tied 1-1, Brengle had just taken a 7-6 lead in the deciding third set when it was stopped at around 9 p.m. England time. Only the main courts at Wimbledon have lights.

In the Grand Slam event, no tiebreaker is used in deciding sets so someone will have to win by two games.

There was no word on when the potentially very short completion of the match will be played. On television coverage, both players could be heard saying it was getting very difficult to see the ball.

There was also a long rain delay at the tourney on Monday.

After dropping the first set, 6-3, the 82nd-ranked Brengle won the second set, 7-5, by reeling off the final four games. She was down 5-3 again in the third set by winning three straight games.

McHale, a 29-year-old from Teaneck, N.J. ranked No. 97, tied the match at 6-6 before Brengle won the final game of the day.

Brengle hasn’t lost an opening-round match at Wimbledon since 2016. She reached the third round in 2017 and the second round in both 2018 and ‘19.

The tournament wasn’t played last summer because of the pandemic.

It was only the second time the two Americans have played each other with Brengle winning a two-set match in Phoenix in 2010.

McHale has made 66 unforced errors to only 20 for Brengle. On the other hand, McHale has hit 51 winners compared to just 10 for Brengle.