Florida’s tennis programs continue to make a strong presence in the professional circuit, with former athletes competing in the opening round at Wimbledon.
In the opening two days at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, former Gators Ben Shelton, Oliver Crawford and McCartney Kessler took part in singles at the grand slam grass tournament—Shelton and Crawford in men’s and Kessler in women’s. Crawford and Kessler exited the tournament on the opening day of play, while Shelton took care of business in his opening match the day after.
Despite two of the three making early exits, having multiple athletes compete in this iconic tournament is something for the UF men’s and women’s tennis programs to be proud of.
Men’s Singles
In the men’s singles bracket, UF had two former players represent: No. 10 Ben Shelton and Oliver Crawford.
A South Carolina native who represents his parents’ country of Great Britain, Crawford was a Gator from 2017 to 2020. During his time in Gainesville, he was a two-time First Team All-SEC member, a three-time ITA All-American, and a member of the 2019 NCAA All-Tournament Team
Shelton, who grew up in Gainesville, was at UF for two seasons from 2020 to 2022, where his father, Bryan, was his head coach. During this time, he was the 2022 NCAA Singles Champion, a 2021 NCAA Champion with the Gators and a 2022 ITA National Player of the Year.
The 22-year-old came off a fourth round exit at Roland Garros to No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz. Despite this defeat, Shelton’s efforts moved him up to No. 10 in the ATP rankings, marking the first time he’s cracked the top 10.
After exiting in the fourth round of last year’s tournament to No. 1 Jannik Sinner, the former Gator took on Australia’s Alex Bolt on Tuesday.
Bolt made it through the qualifying rounds but has had success in the 2021 tournament, where he had his furthest run, reaching the third round.
Shelton took control in the first set of Tuesday’s contest. Although the Australian broke him, the Gainesville native was able to come back and get two breaks of his own, securing a 6-4 victory in the first set.
In the second set, the two went back and forth holding each other to a 5-5 tie. After holding again, Shelton took a 6-5 lead, putting the pressure on Bolt, who took the next match, forcing a superset tiebreaker. The former Gator took the tiebreaker with ease, 7-1, after winning six-straight points, giving Shelton a 2-0 sets lead.
The third set followed a similar pattern to the second, with the two holding each other to another tiebreaker. Bolt first took control with an early 3-1 lead. Shelton bounced back, winning six of the following seven points to defeat his opponent 7-4 in the tiebreaker and 7-6 in the third set to clinch a straight-sets victory and ticket to the second round.
“To get through in three sets in the first round, I’m really happy,” Shelton said after his match. “There’s no easy matchups here at Wimbledon.”
On Monday, Crawford was the first Gator on the court, facing 24-year-old Mattia Bellucci of Italy on Court 16.
This tournament marks the first time the British-American qualifies for the main card of the tournament. Last year, he lost in the qualifiers, but this time around, he won all three of his matches to punch his ticket into the men’s singles bracket.
Bellucci, like Crawford, has yet to win a first-round match at Wimbledon. Last year, the Italian fell in the first round to former Gator Ben Shelton in three sets.
The contest was close in the first set. The two would go back and forth between games to tie the first set at six, sending it to a super-set tiebreaker. Crawford took control in the tiebreaker, cruising to a 7-2 victory, clinching the first set 7-6.
The top 75-ranked Italian bounced back in the second set, where he broke Crawford on his way to a 6-3 victory in the second set. With the match tied at one set apiece, Bellucci took back control of the match, winning the following two sets 6-4 each.
This three-set comeback secured a four-set victory for the 24-year-old, advancing him to the second round, where he will play No. 24 Jiri Lehecka of Czechia on July 2.
For the former Gator, he remains winless in the main bracket at Wimbledon, with this Monday being his second appearance at the grass tournament. Despite being unranked, Crawford was able to fight off Bellucci to take a set, showing improvement from last year’s tournament.
Women’s Singles
In the women’s singles bracket, No. 32 McCartney Kessler represented UF, as she took on Marketa Vondrousova of Czechia on Monday.
Kessler, a 25-year-old native of Calhoun, Georgia, spent five years at UF, from 2017 to 2022, where she was a multi-ITA All-American and a member of the All-SEC First Team.
The former Gators women’s tennis star had recent success coming into her opening match, as she was fresh off winning the women’s singles title at the 2025 Nottingham Open. In this run, Kessler took down No. 1 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil in the first round.
Vondrousova came into the contest with her own singles title at the Berlin Tennis Open. In 2023, the 26-year-old from Czechia won the singles title at Wimbledon, but the following year, she exited in the first round.
The former Gator started the match out slow, with Vondrousova breaking Kessler three times in the first set to cruise to a 6-1 victory. In the second set, the reigning 2023 champion continued to dominate, taking a commanding 5-1 lead.
With her back against the wall, Kessler settled into the match. The former Gator won the next three games, which included two breaks, to tie the second set at five. Kessler did not stop there, when she took her first lead of the contest at 6-5. Vondrousova answered Kessler by tying the set at six to send it to a super-set tiebreaker.
The two traded points to start the tiebreaker, keeping things tied at three. However, Vondrousova took back control of the match, winning the following four points to take the tiebreaker 7-3 and the set 7-6, securing a straight-sets victory.
Overall, Kessler secured three break points, while her opponent grabbed five, playing an important role in limiting the former Gator’s ability to come back. With this result, she still remains winless in the opening rounds in singles at Wimbledon.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the Summer 2025 women's tennis beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams.
