Kessler out in second round in Australia
With her parents, brother, sister-in-law and two-month old nephew all having flown halfway across the world to see her, McCartney Kessler almost continued a wonderful story at the Australian Open Wednesday night.
The Calhoun High graduate has been playing fantastic tennis of late, and Sunday she earned her first Grand Slam singles win.
The 24-year-old then stood waged a fierce battle with world No. 50 Linda Noskova Wednesday night, but even with the support and quiet of new family member baby Beckham Kessler in attendance, McCartney Kessler couldn’t quite advance.
Noskova squeaked out a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 win in Melbourne to advance to the third round and send Kessler out of the tournament, the first Grand Slam of the season.
Still, you could hear the smile in the voice of McClain Kessler, McCartney’s brother and coach, an hour after the match.
“This was nothing but a positive experience, an unbelievable experience,” McClain Kessler said by phone. “The way she played (this week), she plays in practice all the time. There’s nothing stopping McCartney from being a Top 50 player.”
The 24-year-old Kessler, a former All-American at the University of Florida, was playing her maiden Slam after falling in the final round of qualifying at last year’s U.S. Open.
And after beating Fiona Ferro in Round 1, Kessler had a few days to practice and enjoy family time with McClain and his newborn son.
“He was great on the airplane and he was even in the stands (Wednesday),” McClain said with a chuckle. “And he watched the match pretty quietly.”
What the infant saw was a great battle between Kessler and Noskova, a 19-year-old rising Czech. In boosting her ranking inside the Top 200 next week, Kessler pushed Noskova around at times, and for the second straight match overcame a deficit to come very close to a win.
In the final set, both players held serve to 3-3, with Kessler's confidence soaring as she attacked the net and punched volleys into the open court for winners.
Using her white Nike visor to block out the Melbourne sun, the older player Kessler was dictating points throughout the final set. For the match Kessler won six of seven net approaches.
But serving at 3-4, Kessler was suddenly in a lot of danger. She fought off four break points, and then at an inopportune moment, a huge rain shower delayed the match.
“Yeah, we felt like if we got that game to 4-all, she had a lot of momentum,” McClain Kessler said. “It felt like (Noskova) was working really hard to hold, so I felt good about McCartney's chances.
Fifty minutes later, the
match resumed and Kessler faced another break point. Again a well-placed serve bailed her out of trouble, and finally Kessler was able to hold.
But after Noskova grabbed a 5-4 edge, her big returns forced errors from Kessler, and on her first match point the Czech native drilled a backhand winner down the line to advance to the third round.
After the match, McClain Kessler said his sister was “crushed,” but that in a day or two she'd realize what a big step this was.
“We have a saying in our family: We like the battle more than the victory,” he said. “She had a great battle, and now we just keep working hard and see if we can get into the Top 100 this year. That's the goal.”
Just by reaching the second round, she had already earned the most money she ever had in a single tournament, as she was guaranteed a check of $120,000.