After taking back control, Ashlyn Krueger is on a 10-match winning streak

LONDON -- Grass is a simple surface for Ashlyn Krueger.

"You serve big, you have a big game, you're going to do well," she said after defeating qualifier Mariam Bolkvadze 6-1, 6-0 in just 54 minutes to reach the third round of Wimbledon for the first time. "It's pretty straightforward."

Krueger's results on the surface this month have been just as straightforward. The 22-year-old American, ranked No. 102, extended her winning streak to 10 matches with the victory, a run that includes the Ilkley WTA 125 title, three qualifying wins in Roehampton last week and now two main-draw victories for a career-best showing at the All England Club.

Overall, Krueger is 15-1 on grass in 2026. Before Ilkley, she also reached the Birmingham WTA 125 semifinals as a qualifier four weeks ago.

Krueger's wins may not have come at tour level until this week, but she's already shown that success at lower levels can translate quickly to the sport's biggest stages. In the first round, the Ilkley WTA 125 champion rallied from a set and a break down to upset Queen's WTA 500 champion Donna Vekic 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

"I guess that's kind of funny," Krueger said. "But I thought the grass courts were amazing [in Ilkley]. The venue looked like a 250 venue for me. Everyone was so kind, so it was a great, great tournament."

Upon qualifying last week, Krueger captioned her celebratory Instagram post "qualiesmaxxing." It was a throwaway reference to the slang du jour, but Krueger could have been forgiven for thinking that her qualiesmaxxing days were behind her.

This time last year, she was at a career high of No. 29 and seeded at Wimbledon. But her bright start to 2025 -- she went 15-9 through Miami, including a run to the Abu Dhabi final -- petered out. She compiled a 10-18 record through the rest of last year, and just 11-13 through Roland Garros this year.

"There were a lot of things last year that were out of my control, that affected my game and my performance," Krueger said. "So now that everything's back in my control, I'm just playing better tennis."

Krueger will not be drawn on details, but there have been multiple coaching changes. She parted ways with Michael Joyce at the end of 2025 and then with Hugo Armando after Roland Garros last month.

This week, she's being supported by her mother, Franchel, and childhood coach Dave Anderson, who she wanted to experience Wimbledon. They've both provided a certain level of technical knowhow -- but for all intents and purposes, Krueger has been flying solo for her entire month in the U.K.

"Honestly, it's a lot of stuff throughout these weeks that I've been doing myself," she said. "A lot of research myself. My nutrition and my fitness have always been things that I've handled myself. But scouting the opponents, watching back my matches, seeing what I can do better is most important. It's a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that usually I don't do, but I'm doing now."

Krueger, whose love of music is so strong that she travels with two fully charged pairs of headphones just in case one breaks, has also done her research into why particular music helps to soothe her anxiety.

"There are certain frequencies which help me," she said. "There's tons of studies on it. But especially when I'm anxious or nervous, there are certain songs I'll put on, certain frequencies that I'll put on, to calm me. It's any genre. I wouldn't say it's [specifically] like, classical or rap. It's not so much lyrical, but more whatever music fits my vibe and what I need in the moment."

The third round will feature two players chasing the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time. Krueger meets Ukraine's Daria Snigur, with both carrying plenty of confidence into the matchup.