The Gators’ doubles team of Ida Jarlskog and McCartney Kessler were to set the tone at the ITA Tennis All-American Championships in their opening match against Utah's Leah Heimuli and Whitney Turley. They were, after all, the first two Gators to play a match at this year’s tournament.
UF’s duo dominated almost the entire match with an 8-1 victory, scoring an important win to move on to the next round of the doubles pre-qualifying round.
The pre-qualifying round of the ITA Tennis All-American Championships whittles 30 doubles teams down to four to send into the qualifying draw of the tournament. Teammates Tsveta Dimitrova and Victoria Emma have already qualified, and the tandem of Jarlskog and Kessler are looking to join them.
The fifth-seeded pair would have to win two more matches on Sunday in order to reach the qualifying rounds. Texas’ unseeded duo of Marta Perez-Mur and Tijana Spasojevic are Jarlskog and Kessler’s next matchup. A win would move them onto the final round of the pre-qualifying draw, where UCLA’s third-seeded team of Ayan Broomfield and Alaina Miller could await.
The qualifying rounds run on Oct. 2 and Oct. 3 with the main draw starting on Oct. 4 and lasting through Oct. 7. The regional championships begin on Oct. 18th and end on the Oct. 22nd.
The Gators have four players in the qualifying singles draw to go along with Dimitrova and Kessler and potentially Jarlskog and Kessler in the qualifying doubles draw.
Follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter @Bfarrell727 or contact him at bfarrell@alligator.org.
Correction: The photo for this article has been removed because it showed former Gator Peggy Porter and misidentified her as McCartney Kessler.
