Michael J. Lewis

Special to The News Journal

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. – Madison Brengle’s Grand Slam season ended in unusual fashion Monday night at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The Dover native crashed out of the U.S. Open in agonizing pain, as Brengle was forced to retire from her first-round match against 16-year-old phenom Kayla Day with an arm injury she believes she suffered after a random drug test given to her on Saturday.

The 26-year-old Brengle, who reached the 3rd round here last year, was down 6-2, 4-2, 0-30 when the pain, which Brengle described as “like getting hit by lightning every time I swung my racket” just got to be too much.

Brengle said in a post-match interview that she has suffered from a vein condition her whole life, and that the random Saturday test caused her right forearm to swell and hurt. Brengle is right-handed.

“Every time I get one of these tests the same thing happens, and I tried my best to get ready for tonight,” a teary-eyed Brengle said. “But in the second set I started to lose all feeling in my hand and my arm, and if you can’t feel the racket, it’s really hard to play. It’s the U.S. Open and I tried to fight through the pain as much as I could.”

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The drug test program, run by the Tennis Anti-Doping Program, calls for all ATP and WTA players to be subjected to random drug testing, in and out of competition. Brengle said she was tested right after this year’s Wimbledon and the exact same thing happened.

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“The only way it gets better is with rest and time,” Brengle said. “I’ve had work with the physios and I’ve sleeping with the compression sleeve (since Saturday) but it just takes time to heal.”

Brengle, currently ranked No. 50 in the world and coming off a third-round performance at last year’s Open, was unable to hit her forehand with any sting Monday on Court 4. Day, who received a wild card after winning the USTA National Championships in early August, took advantage.

Brengle received a medical timeout after the first set, whereupon a WTA trainer wrapped her right forearm completely in white compression tape. But Brengle still was wincing after nearly every shot, holding her right arm at her side and grimacing between points.

The teenaged Day punished Brengle’s looping shots off both sides of the court, and when Brengle rallied a bit to get to 2-all in the second set, Day responded with a barrage of winners to break serve.

With Brengle still in agony, the trainer came back out to work on her right arm again, but she simply couldn’t continue. She walked to chair umpire Gigi Gregory and said she had to stop.

“[Day is] a great player and I hope she has a great tournament, but it’s just really disappointing when you can’t even hold your racket without pain,” Brengle said.

Day, who won her first-ever U.S. Open match, advances to play the winner of Monday night’s Madison Keys-Alison Riske match on Wednesday.