McCartney Kessler Snatches First WTA Title at 2024 Tennis in the Land
The American prevailed against Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil in the final.
McCartney Kessler of the United States, 25, defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, 28, to win the Women’s Singles title at the 2024 Tennis in the Land in Cleveland, Ohio (a WTA 250 event). The score in the final was 1-6, 6-1 and 7-5 in favor of Kessler.
This was the first match Haddad Maia and Kessler have ever played against each other on the WTA Tour. Today’s victory was the first title Kessler has won on the 2024 WTA Tour and the first title of her career in single’s competition. Notably, she becomes the sixth player to win her first WTA title during the 2024 season and the third American to do so after Emma Navarro and Peyton Stearns. Moreover, her maiden title came from a hard court event at the 250-level. And finally, she becomes the first player representing the United States to win the title in Cleveland since the event joined the tour in 2021.
Heading into this tournament, Haddad Maia was ranked as the Number 23 tennis player on the 2024 WTA Tour, while Kessler carried the Number 98 designation. By winning in Cleveland, Kessler has received 250 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Haddad Maia has picked up 163 points.
Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain (No. 73) was the tournament’s reigning champion. This year though, she lost against Peyton Stearns of the United States (No. 47) in the second round. Meanwhile, Haddad Maia was the event’s top seed while Kessler received a wildcard entry into the main draw.
Kessler arrived in the final after winning against wildcard Katrina Scott of the United States (No. 299), fourth seed Wang Xinyu of China (No. 37), Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands (No. 95), and fifth seed Anastasia Potapova of Russia (No. 43).
In the other half of the main draw, Haddad Maia defeated qualifier Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland (No. 74), Cristina Bucșa of Spain (No. 72), Clara Burel of France (No. 58), and third seed Kateřina Siniaková of the Czech Republic (No. 36).
The revised rankings for the 2024 WTA Tour will be officially released on Monday, August 26. The tour will then play one tournament from August 26-September 8: the U.S. Open in New York City, New York (a Grand Slam event). The competition will be played on hard courts.
Coco Gauff of the United States (No. 3) is the reigning champion at the U.S. Open. She is looking to defend the title as the event’s third seed this year - facing Varvara Gracheva of France (No. 66) in the first round. Haddad Maia and Kessler have also entered the main draw - with Haddad Maia as the 22nd seed and Kessler receiving a wildcard entry. In the first round, Haddad Maia will battle Elina Avanesyan of Armenia (No. 51) while Kessler will clash with 19th seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine (No. 19).