McCartney Kessler (born July 8, 1999) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as No. 30 in singles and No. 47 in doubles by the WTA, both achieved in 2025. Kessler has won three singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour.
Early life, college education From Calhoun, Georgia, her parents, Carl Kessler and Julie Kessler (Driggers), played collegiate tennis at University of Central Florida. She has an older sister Mackenzie, who played club tennis at the University of Central Florida, and an older brother McClain Kessler, who played collegiate tennis at Florida.
Kessler attended Calhoun High School.
Kessler signed on to the University of Florida on a tennis scholarship to play collegiate tennis for the Florida Gators in November 2017. At Florida, she was a three-time All-American and three-time First Team All-SEC player. She also earned the 2022 SEC Player of the Year Award, becoming the ninth player from University of Florida to earn the award.
Career
2015: Juniors Kessler won the U16 doubles title at the Orange Bowl with Emma Kurtz in 2015.
2024: Major & WTA Tour debuts, first title Kessler made her WTA Tour debut at the Auckland Open after qualifying. She lost in the first round to Lulu Sun.
For her major debut, she received a wildcard for the Australian Open, 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. In February, she won the biggest title of her career to that date at the WTA 125 in Puerto Vallarta, defeating Taylah Preston in the final.
In March, she received a wildcard from the Indian Wells Open making her WTA 1000 debut there, losing to Nuria Párrizas Díaz in the first round. In April, she entered the main draw of the WTA 500 Charleston Open as a lucky loser, making her debut at this level. She lost in the first round to Caroline Wozniacki.
Kessler qualified for Wimbledon, making her debut at the grass court major, losing to ninth seed Maria Sakkari in the first round.
Following winning a W100 title in Landisville, Pennsylvania, she reached the top 100 on 12 August 2024.
At Tennis in the Land, she reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal by defeating fellow wildcard entrant Katrina Scott and fourth seed Wang Xinyu for her first top 50 win. Next, she defeated Arantxa Rus in straight sets. Kessler reached her first final with a come-from-behind three set victory over fifth seed Anastasia Potapova, for her second top 50 win, and won her maiden Tour title defeating top seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.
She also received a wildcard for the US Open making her debut at her home major event, losing in the first round to 19th seed Marta Kostyuk.
2025: Top 30, WTA 1000 singles 4th rounds and doubles title Kessler started her season at the Brisbane International, where she defeated Magda Linette, before losing to 15th seed Yulia Putintseva in the second round. The following week, she reached the final at the Hobart International with wins over seventh seed Rebecca Šramková, María Lourdes Carlé top seed Dayana Yastremska and sixth seed Elina Avanesyan. In the championship match, Kessler defeated second seed Elise Mertens in three sets to secure her second career title. As a result, she reached the top 50 at world No. 47 in the WTA singles rankings on 13 January.
In February, at the Dubai Open, Kessler defeated Amanda Anisimova in the first round and then overcame world No. 3, Coco Gauff, to record her first win against a top-5 ranked player. She lost in the third round to Karolína Muchová in a match which went to a deciding set tiebreak. Kessler reached the final at the ATX Open, and despite losing to top seed Jessica Pegula, she returned to the top 50, at world No. 48. Alongside Zhang Shuai, she was also runner-up in the doubles at the same tournament, losing the championship match to Anna Blinkova and Yuan Yue.
In June at the Nottingham Open, Kessler defeated top seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, Zhu Lin, two-time defending champion Katie Boulter and Rebecca Šramková to make it through to the final. She also won the championship match against Dayana Yastremska, in straight sets, to claim her third WTA Tour title, and first on grass courts. As a result, she broke into the top 30 for the first time on 30 June 2025.
Seeded 28th at the Canadian Open, she reached a WTA 1000 fourth round for the first time defeating world No. 5 and fourth seed Mirra Andreeva, en route, her second top 5 win. Her run was ended by 24th seed Marta Kostyuk. At the same tournament, Kessler lifted her first doubles title and first at the WTA 1000 level with Coco Gauff, defeating world doubles No. 1, Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai in the final.
2026: Abu Dhabi and Charleston quarterfinals Competing at the Australian Open, Kessler was defeated in the second round of singles by sixth seed Jessica Pegula. She and Pegula played the women's doubles together but lost in the first round to Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani.
In February, she reached the quarterfinals at the Abu Dhabi Open, losing to third seed Clara Tauson, while the following month she also made it through to the last eight at the Charleston Open, this time falling to Yuliia Starodubtseva.
Making her debut for the United States Billie Jean King Cup team in the qualifying round against Belgium in April, Kessler suffered a sudden back injury while serving in the third set of her match with Elise Mertens and, after immediately leaving the court for medical attention, was unable to continue.
At the French Open, she defeated Guo Hanyu in three sets, before losing to eventual semifinalist Diana Shnaider in the second round. At Wimbledon, Kessler became the first unseeded player to record a double-bagel win in the women's singles at the event since Mary Pierce in 2003, when she defeated Oleksandra Oliynykova in the first round. She lost to world No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka, in the second round.
After a first round defeat against 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova at the US Open, Kessler announced she was ending her season early, writing on social media that 2026 had been "physically demanding" and "my team and I have decided it's time to take a step back and let my body heal."
Career statistics
Performance timelines
Singles Tournament2023202420252026Win%Grand Slam tournaments Australian OpenA2R1R2R0 / 32–3 French OpenAQ11R2R0 / 21–2 WimbledonA1R1R2R0 / 31–3 US OpenQ31R2R1R0 / 31–3Win–loss0–01–31–43–40 / 115–11WTA 1000 tournamentsQatar OpenAA1RA0 / 10–1 Dubai ChampionshipsAA3RA0 / 12–1Indian WellsA1R2R1R0 / 31–3 Miami OpenAQ13R2R0 / 23–2Madrid OpenAQ11RA0 / 10–1Italian OpenAA1R2R0 / 21–2Canadian OpenAA4R2R0 / 24–2Cincinnati OpenAA3R1R0 / 22–2China OpenA1R4RA0 / 23–2Wuhan OpenAA1RA0 / 10–1
Significant finals
WTA 1000 tournaments
Doubles: 1 (title) ResultYearTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin2025Canadian OpenHard Coco Gauff Taylor Townsend Zhang Shuai 6–4, 1–6, [13–11]
WTA Tour finals
Singles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up) LegendWTA 500WTA 250 (3–1)Finals by surfaceHard (2–1)Grass (1–0)Finals by settingOutdoor (3–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Tennis in the Land, USWTA 250Hard Beatriz Haddad Maia1–6, 6–1, 7–5Win2–0Hobart International, AustraliaWTA 250Hard Elise Mertens6–4, 3–6, 6–0Loss2–1ATX Open, USWTA 250Hard Jessica Pegula5–7, 2–6Win3–1Nottingham Open, UKWTA 250Grass Dayana Yastremska6–4, 7–5
Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up) LegendWTA 1000 (1–0)WTA 250 (0–1)Finals by surfaceHard (1–1)Finals by settingOutdoor (1–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1ATX Open, United StatesWTA 250Hard Zhang Shuai Anna Blinkova Yuan Yue6–3, 1–6, [4–10]Win1–1Canadian Open, CanadaWTA 1000Hard Coco Gauff Taylor Townsend Zhang Shuai 6–4, 1–6, [13–11]
WTA 125 finals
Singles: 1 (title) ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Puerto Vallarta Open, MexicoHard Taylah Preston5–7, 6–3, 6–0
ITF Circuit finals
Singles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up) LegendW100 tournaments (1–0)W60/75 tournaments (2–0)W15 tournaments (0–1)Finals by surfaceHard (3–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1ITF Lubbock, United StatesW15Hard Adriana Reami6–7(6–8), 1–6Win1–1Georgia's Rome Open, USW60Hard (i) Grace Min6–2, 6–1Win2–1Georgia's Rome Open, USW75Hard (i) Liv Hovde6–4, 6–1Win3–1Landisville Tennis Challenge, USW100Hard Olivia Gadecki4–6, 6–2, 6–4
Doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups) LegendW60 tournaments (2–1)W25 tournaments (0–1)Finals by surfaceHard (1–2)Clay (1–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0ITF Jackson, USW25Clay Jaeda Daniel Allura Zamarripa Maribella Zamarripa1–6, 6–1, [10–5]Loss1–1Palmetto Pro Open, USW60Hard Yuliia Starodubtseva Maria Mateas Anna Rogers4–6, 7–6(7–3), [6–10]Loss1–2Evansville Classic, USW60Hard Yuliia Starodubtseva Maria Kononova Veronika Miroshnichenko3–6, 6–2, [8–10]Win2–2ITF Templeton Pro, USW60Hard Alana Smith Jaeda Daniel Jessie Aney7–5, 6–4
Wins against top 10 players Kessler has a 2–4 record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10
#OpponentRankEventSurfaceRoundScore20251. Coco Gauff3Dubai Championships, UAEHard2R6–4, 7–5532. Mirra Andreeva5Canadian Open, CanadaHard3R7–6(7–5), 6–432
Best Grand Slam results details Singles Australian Open2024 Australian Open (wildcard)RoundOpponentRankScore1R Fiona Ferro (Q)No. 1533–6, 6–3, 6–2No. 2062R Linda NoskováNo. 503–6, 6–1, 4–62026 Australian OpenRoundOpponentRankScore1R Emiliana ArangoNo. 516–3, 6–2No. 372R Jessica Pegula (6)No. 60–6, 2–6French Open2026 French OpenRoundOpponentRankScore1R Guo Hanyu (Q)No. 1664–6, 7–6(7–1), 7–5No. 482R Diana Shnaider (25)No. 236–7(3–7), 1–6Wimbledon Championships2026 Wimbledon RoundOpponentRankScore1R Oleksandra OliynykovaNo. 536–0, 6–0No. 572R Aryna Sabalenka (1)No. 11–6, 6–7(9–11)US Open2025 US Open (32nd seed)RoundOpponentRankScore1R Magda LinetteNo. 377–5, 7–5No. 412R Markéta VondroušováNo. 606–7(7–9), 2–6
References
External links