McCartney Kessler is through to her first career WTA Tour final after beating fifth-seeded Anastasia Potapova 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Friday in the semifinals of Tennis in the Land at Cleveland.

Her opponent in the championship match will be top-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, who got past third-seeded Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

Kessler, a 25-year-old Georgia native, is ranked 98th in the world. She had never played in a Grand Slam event before this year, and she had never been in a WTA quarterfinal before this week.

Her match against Potapova, a 23-year-old Russian, featured plenty of problems for both players on serve. Each committed 11 double faults. Kessler had to deal with 18 break points on her serve, saving 13 of them, while Potapova saved 12 of the 19 she faced.

Kessler got the lone break of the third set on her 10th attempt of the set and sixth in the game, giving her a 5-3 lead. She served out the match in the next game.

Haddad Maia never lost her serve and was aided by 10 double faults from Siniakova.

Abierto GNP Seguros

New Zealand’s Lulu Sun eked out a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (6) win over third-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia in Monterrey, Mexico, to reach her first career WTA Tour final.

Each of the first two sets featured one service break, and the third set had none. In the decisive tiebreaker, Sun jumped on top 6-3 but needed four match points to seal the victory.

Next up for Sun will be a matchup with sixth-seeded Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, who defeated second-seeded Emma Navarro of the United States 7-6 (7), 7-5.

The first set had no service breaks, and Noskova prevailed on her fourth set point in the tiebreaker. Conversely, the second set featured four service breaks in the first seven games. Noskova ultimately broke again to clinch the match.

Noskova is headed to her third career WTA Tour final, having split two last year.

–Field Level Media