American tennis is in a great place as several women find themselves ranked inside the top ten.
There are four American women currently ranked in the WTA top ten: Coco Gauff [2], Jessica Pegula [4], Amanda Anisimova [7], and Madison Keys [8].
Three of the four have contested Grand Slam finals in 2025, as Madison Keys won the Australian Open in January, and Gauff won the French Open in June, before Anisimova lost the Wimbledon final to Iga Swiatek.
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World number four Pegula hasn’t qualified for a major final in 2025, but has reached one in the last 12 months, losing out to Aryna Sabalenka at the 2024 US Open.
All four players have impressed recently as they proudly represent the United States on the world stage.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the 2025 season, Serena Williams’ former coach has predicted another American will join them in the top ten.
Rick Macci claims McCartney Kessler will be a top ten player by the end of 2025
Taking to X, Williams’ former coach Rick Macci named the American player he believes will be ranked in the top ten by the end of the season.
Top ten around the corner for the American Kessler for sure. Has good firepower off both wings with pop and can sprinkle in the volley and drop. Mentally stays locked in and knows how to win. Has no fear top ten by end of the year. @WTA
— Rick Macci (@RickMacci) August 1, 2025
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“Top ten around the corner for the American [McCartney] Kessler for sure,” he said.
“Has good firepower off both wings with pop and can sprinkle in the volley and drop. Mentally stays locked in and knows how to win.
“Has no fear, top ten by the end of the year.”
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Kessler has impressed in Montreal, taking down Maya Joint and Mirra Andreeva en route to the last 16.
The American’s win over Andreeva was her second over a top-ten player in 2025, as she continues to play her best tennis against the WTA Tour elite.
- 2025 Canadian Open 3R – McCartney Kessler defeated Mirra Andreeva, 7-6, 6-4
- 2025 Dubai Tennis Championships 2R – McCartney Kessler defeated Coco Gauff, 6-4, 7-5
She’ll now play Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in round four, against whom she has a 0-1 losing record, having suffered a straight-sets defeat at last year’s US Open.
Kessler will be hoping for a better performance this time around as she continues her charge towards the WTA top ten.
Is McCartney Kessler on course to reach the top ten in 2025?
Macci believes a top-ten ranking is right around the corner for Kessler, but is that a realistic target for the 2025 season?
Currently ranked 32nd in the world, there’s certainly a long way to go, even when looking at the ‘Live WTA Race’.
Selected players in the ‘Live’ WTA Race’
Kessler has currently accumulated 1,230 fewer points in 2025 than Elina Svitolina, who is currently ranked 10th in the ‘Live WTA Race’.
If she were to carry on at this pace, she would likely finish the year ranked inside the world’s top 30, but would be some way off the top ten.
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Therefore, if the American is to make a top-ten breakthrough as Macci has predicted, she will likely need to win one of the ‘big’ tournaments before the season reaches its conclusion.
Between now and the year-end WTA Finals, there are five tournaments left to play, which offer 1,000 or more points to the winner.
- Canadian Open (1,000 points)
- Cincinnati Open (1,000 points)
- US Open (2,000 points)
- China Open (1,000 points)
- Wuhan Open (1,000 points)
If you were to add 1,000 points to Kessler’s current tally, she’d be right on Svitolina’s tail, chasing down a top-ten spot in the ‘Live WTA Race’.
She is, however, yet to win a title above the WTA 250 level, so perhaps expecting her to make the step up to winning WTA 1,000s is slightly premature.
It remains to be seen if Kessler can break into the world’s top ten, but it will certainly be something to look out for in the future.
She won’t want to concern herself with rankings now, though, as she first focuses on her fourth-round tie with Kostyuk on Saturday, August 2.