McCartney Kessler

American tennis player (born 1999)
McCartney Kessler
Kessler at the 2024 Washington Open
Country (sports) United States
Born (1999-07-08) July 8, 1999 (age 25)
Calhoun, Georgia, U.S.
CollegeUniversity of Florida
Prize moneyUS$ 430,732
Singles
Career record128–65
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 63 (August 26, 2024)
Current rankingNo. 63 (August 26, 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2024)
French OpenQ1 (2024)
Wimbledon1R (2024)
US Open1R (2024)
Doubles
Career record28–27
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 180 (April 8, 2024)
Current rankingNo. 270 (August 26, 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
US Open1R (2024)
Last updated on: August 26, 2024.

McCartney Kessler (born 8 July 1999) is an American tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of No. 63 in singles, achieved on 26 August 2024, and No. 180 in doubles, set on 8 April 2024.[1][2] Kessler won her first WTA Tour title at the 2024 Tennis in the Land in Cleveland.

Early life

From Calhoun, Georgia, her parents Carl Kessler and Julie Diggers played collegiate tennis at University of Central Florida. Her brother McClain Kessler is also a collegiate tennis player in Florida.[3]

Kessler attended Calhoun High School.[4]

College career

Kessler signed on to the University of Florida on a tennis scholarship to play collegiate tennis for the Florida Gators in November 2017.[5][6]

Career

Juniors

Kessler won the U16 doubles title at the Orange Bowl with Emma Kurtz in 2015.[7]

2023: First ITF Circuit title

Partnering with Alana Smith, Kessler won her first $60k tournament in September 2023 at the Central Coast Pro Tennis Open in Templeton, defeating Jessie Aney and Jaeda Daniel in the final.

2024: Major, WTA Tour & 1000 debuts, first WTA 125 & 250 titles

Kessler made her WTA Tour debut at the Auckland Open after qualifying.[8]

For her Grand Slam debut, she received a wildcard at the Australian Open[9][10] after winning the USTA’s Wild Card Challenge, and reached the second round, recording her first major match win over qualifier Fiona Ferro. She lost in the second round to Linda Nosková.[11] In February, she won the biggest title of her career to that date at the WTA 125 in Puerto Vallarta.[12]

In March, she received a wildcard for the Indian Wells Open making there her WTA 1000 debut.[13] In April, she entered the main draw of the WTA 500 Charleston Open as a lucky loser, making her debut at this level.

She qualified for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships making her debut at this Grand Slam tournament.[14]

Following winning the W100 title in Landisville, Pennsylvania, she reached the top 100 on 12 August 2024.[15][16][17]

At the Tennis in Cleveland where she entered as a wildcard, she reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal by defeating fellow wildcard Katrina Scott and upsetting fourth seed Wang Xinyu for her first top 50 win.[18] Next, she defeated Arantxa Rus in straight sets to reach her first WTA Tour semifinal.[19] Kessler reached her first career final with a come-from-behind three-set victory over fifth seed Anastasia Potapova, for her second top 50 win[20] and won her maiden WTA Tour title defeating top seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, her third top 50 win in this tournament.[21] She became the first American and also the first wildcard to reach the final in Cleveland and win the title at that tournament.

She also received a wildcard for the US Open making her debut at her home slam,[22] losing in the first round to 19th seed Marta Kostyuk.[23]

Grand Slam performance timeline

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Singles

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Legend
Grand Slam (0–0)
WTA 1000 (0–0)
WTA 500 (0–0)
WTA 250 (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–0)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (1–0)
Indoor (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Aug 2024 Tennis in the Land, United States WTA 250 Hard Brazil Beatriz Haddad Maia 1–6, 6–1, 7–5

WTA Challenger finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

Result W–L Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Feb 2024 Puerto Vallarta Open, Mexico Hard Australia Taylah Preston 5–7, 6–3, 6–0

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

Legend
W100 tournaments (1–0)
W60/75 tournaments (2–0)
W15 tournaments (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Oct 2021 ITF Lubbock, United States W15 Hard United States Adriana Reami 6–7(6), 1–6
Win 1–1 Oct 2023 Georgia's Rome Open, United States W60 Hard (i) United States Grace Min 6–2, 6–1
Win 2–1 Jan 2024 Georgia's Rome Open, United States W75 Hard (i) United States Liv Hovde 6–4, 6–1
Win 3–1 Aug 2024 Landisville Tennis Challenge, United States W100 Hard Australia Olivia Gadecki 4–6, 6–2, 6–4

Doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner–ups)

Legend
W60 tournaments (2–1)
W25 tournaments (0–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (1–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Apr 2023 ITF Jackson,
United States 		W25 Clay United States Jaeda Daniel United States Allura Zamarripa
United States Maribella Zamarripa 		1–6, 6–1, [10–5]
Loss 1–1 Jun 2023 ITF Sumter,
United States 		W60 Hard Ukraine Yulia Starodubtseva United States Maria Mateas
United States Anna Rogers 		4–6, 7–6(3), [6–10]
Loss 1–2 Jul 2023 Evansville Classic,
United States 		W60 Hard Ukraine Yulia Starodubtseva Maria Kononova
Veronika Miroshnichenko 		3–6, 6–2, [8–10]
Win 2–2 Sep 2023 ITF Templeton Pro, United States W60 Hard United States Alana Smith United States Jessie Aney
United States Jaeda Daniel 		7–5, 6–4

References

  1. ^ "McCartney Kessler". wta. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  2. ^ "McCartney Kessler". itf. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  3. ^ Krass, Ed. "THE KESSLER TENNIS FAMILY: AN AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY". College Tennis. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  4. ^ McElhaney, Tori (June 11, 2017). "Calhoun's McCartney Kessler in two Open Championship tennis finals". times free press.com. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  5. ^ "M.Kessler". Florida Gators. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  6. ^ Farrer, Alex (November 11, 2017). "College Signing: Calhoun's Kessler signs to play tennis at Florida". apnews.com. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Calhoun's Kessler wins Orange Bowl Tennis doubles title". allongeorgia. December 30, 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Photos: The players contesting their first WTA main draw in 2024".
  9. ^ "Saville, Kubler, McCabe among latest AO wildcards". 5 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Aussie Open 2024's Slam debuts: Korneeva, Seidel, Starodubtseva and more".
  11. ^ "Noskova holds off Kessler to advance in Melbourne". TennisMajors. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  12. ^ https://www.usta.com/en/home/pro/pro-media---news/kessler-wins-wta-125-puerto-vallarta-title.html
  13. ^ "Emma Raducanu, Paula Badosa Headline Full List of 2024 Wild Cards". 1 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Katie Volynets, Robin Montgomery among four U.S. women to qualify at Wimbledon". 27 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  15. ^ "McCartney Kessler rallies for championship at Koser Jewelers Tennis Challenge". 12 August 2024.
  16. ^ "Photos: McCartney Kessler and all the Top 100 breakthroughs of 2024". 12 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Rankings Watch: Anisimova back inside Top 50, Shnaider cracks Top 20". 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Kessler upsets Wang Xinyu for first Top 50 win and WTA quarterfinal debut". 21 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Cleveland Open: Kessler powers into semi-finals". TennisMajors. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Top seed Haddad Maia, first-time finalist Kessler to meet in Cleveland final". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  21. ^ "American wild card Kessler upsets top seed Haddad Maia to win Cleveland". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  22. ^ "Past women's champions Osaka, Andreescu headline 2024 US Open wild cards". Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  23. ^ "Marta Kostyuk dominates in-form McCartney Kessler at the 2024 US Open". US Open. Retrieved 28 August 2024.