McCartney Kessler's long and winding road leads to Rome
College tennis is in McCartney Kessler’s blood, but if this weekend is anything to go by the 24-year-old American is destined for much greater things.
Kessler, who followed in the footsteps of both her parents, Carl and Julie, and brother McClain in playing college tennis in Florida, seized bragging rights around the dinner table after claiming her first professional singles title on home soil at W60 Rome, Georgia on the ITF World Tennis Tour on Sunday.
A week that began with her career-best singles win – a 6-2 6-4 triumph against compatriot and world No. 77 Taylor Townsend – ended in similarly buoyant fashion, with a 6-2 6-1 victory in the title match over another American, Grace Min.
The Georgia native began the 2023 season at No. 945 in the WTA singles rankings, but rocketed to No. 240 in the world on Monday.
Kessler, who also won her first W60 doubles title at the turn of the month alongside Alana Smith in Templeton, first played on the ITF World Tennis Tour in 2016 before spending five seasons playing for the Florida Gators.
She reached her first professional singles final at W15 Lubbock in September 2021 but had to wait over two years for the opportunity to come again – winning in style on her 30th professional main draw singles appearance this weekend.
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Elsewhere, Ukraine’s Katarina Zavatska clinched her second title of the season at W40 Lisbon, building on her W60 Brescia triumph in June with another victory on clay following a 6-3 2-6 7-5 win over Gergana Topalova.
There was also a standout triumph for 17-year-old Sara Saito, the former junior world No. 2, who collected her first women’s crown on the ITF World Tennis Tour on home soil in Japan at W25 Makinohara.
Saito, who reached the quarter-finals of the girls’ singles at the 2023 US Open on her last junior outing, climbs to a new high of No. 418 in the WTA rankings this week.
Click here for all the weekend’s results from the ITF World Tennis Tour