Kessler beats Yastremska to win Nottingham Open

LONDON: McCartney Kessler clinched the first grass-court title of her career as the American beat Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in the Nottingham Open final on Sunday.

Kessler ignored a 90-minute rain delay to earn a 6-4, 7-5 victory that secured her fourth WTA title. The world number 42 had ended Katie Boulter’s 13-match winning run in the Nottingham Open by knocking out the Briton in the quarter-finals.

The 25-year-old also ousted top seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round and wasted little time setting the tone against Yastremska. Kessler broke the world number 46 in the opening game and a second break put her in complete control.

She was leading 5-4 when the showers forced the players back to the locker room, but the American returned to finish off the first set quickly. Kessler was within touching distance of the title after a break at 3-3 in the second set and then had five match points on Yastremska’s serve.

The Ukranian staved off defeat and broke when Kessler served for the title for the first time. But Kessler showed her mental fortitude, breaking straight back and then serving out the victory at the second attempt.

“I am super excited to have another title, another great week of tennis for me,” she said. “It was a tighter second set than I wanted at 5-3, but it made it more exciting.” Yastremska lost her second final of the year but admitted the ongoing conflict with Russia in her home country made tennis of secondary importance. “It’s been also been a tough week with what was going on in Ukraine so I have had to deal with a lot of things this week,” she said.