McCartney Kessler had a lot riding on her shoulders. She was the only Florida player left in the Miami Fall Invite out of six singles players and three doubles teams for the Gators.
A win against Miami’s Ulyana Shirokova, though, gave her a share of the Singles A Main Draw title at the tournament and UF a signature win at the tournament.
Kessler defeated Shirokova in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, never giving her opponent much of an edge throughout the match. The sophomore had dropped just one set in three matches during her run through the singles bracket, and that came in her first match.
The Calhoun, Georgia, native split the Singles A Main Draw title with Michigan’s Brienne Minor, who had defeated Kessler’s teammate Ida Jarlskog earlier in the tournament.
Jarlskog and Kessler also teamed up on the doubles court on Sunday and won 6-2 to take third place in the Flight A doubles play. Sophomore Katie Kubicz and freshman Marlee Zein also won their doubles match to claim another third place finish with a 6-4 win.
Kessler’s win gave the team something to build from as they prepare for the Hilton Head 10K from Sept. 24-30 and the ITA All-American Championships, for which the pre-qualifying rounds begin on Sept. 29.
This all came after a strong first day of competition with five of the six UF singles players winning their first-round matches and two of the three doubles teams doing the same thing.
Day 2, however, was a completely different story as both remaining doubles teams lost, and everyone but Kessler was defeated in the second round of singles competition.
Still, Kessler’s run at the Miami Fall Invite should give the Gators some confidence heading into their heavy upcoming tournament slate.
Follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter @Bfarrell727 or contact him at bfarrell@alligator.org.
Correction: The photo for this article has been removed because it showed former Gator Peggy Porter and misidentified her as McCartney Kessler.
