Kessler Targets First WTA 500 Semifinal in Charleston

FORMER GATOR FEELING AT HOME ON DANIEL ISLAND

McCartney Kessler was born for this, really.

Her parents, after all, met while playing tennis in the collegiate ranks at the University of Central Florida. You might say it’s in her blood.

A former blue-chip recruit out of Calhoun, Ga., an hour’s drive north of Atlanta, Kessler originally committed to Vanderbilt before settling on the University of Florida, where she would go on to play No. 1 singles, earning ITA All-American honors, as well as being named SEC Player of the Year in 2021-22. Her WTA breakout came in 2024, when she captured her maiden tour-level title in Cleveland, edging Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in the final, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5.

But it was only last year that Kessler, 26, truly began to believe she belonged at the elite level. It was in 2025 that she would bag two more WTA 250 crowns in Hobart and Nottingham, eventually rising to a career-high No. 30 in the PIF WTA Rankings.

“They make this event feel like the biggest event of the year.” — McCartney Kessler

Kessler has carried that momentum into 2026, now into her third quarterfinal at the WTA 500 level at the Credit One Charleston Open. Under the Credit One Stadium lights on Friday night, she’ll shoot for the semifinals when she faces another former collegiate star, onetime Old Dominion University standout Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine.

Maybe it’s the proximity to her tennis roots that has Kessler feeling so at home on the green clay of Daniel Island, where she’s been accompanied by family, friends and even her beloved Havanese, Hazel.

“I think it’s the hospitality, honestly,” said Kessler, coached by her brother, McClain. “From the hotel to the site, everyone is super welcoming. They make this event feel like the biggest event of the year. For it to be women’s-only, have so many fans and to be treated this well, it’s really special.”

Kessler holds a slight 2-1 edge in head-to-heads against the Charleston debutante Starodubtseva.

McCartney with her husband, Zach Adams