American McCartney Kessler stunned No. 1 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil on Saturday, shaking off a brutal first set for a 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory in the final of Tennis in the Land in Cleveland.
It was Kessler’s first career WTA Tour title.
Kessler thrived as an underdog in the tournament, ousting No. 4 seed Xinyu Wang of China and No. 5 seed Anastasia Potapova of Russia before completing the upset of Haddad Maia.
On Saturday, Kessler didn’t get into a groove until the second set, where she took six games in a row after falling behind 1-0. The 25-year-old then trailed 3-1 in the third set before rallying for the win over Haddad Maia, who entered the match ranked No. 23 in the world.
Kessler won 32 of 46 first-serve points and matched Haddad Maia in aces and double faults with three and four, respectively.