Preview: McCartney Kessler vs. Katie Boulter - prediction, form, tournament so far

Still flying the British flag high during her pursuit of a Nottingham Open three-peat, Katie Boulter squares up to the USA's McCartney Kessler in Friday's quar​​​​​​​ter-final showdown.

The 2023 and 2024 champion retained her grip on the crown by sinking Sonay Kartal in Thursday's second-round slog, while her American foe took down Lin Zhu of China with minimal difficulty.

Match preview

Facing the booming serve and ferocious ball str​​​​​​​iking of Kartal is challenging enough in sub 30-degr​​​​​​​ee temper​​​​​​​atur​​​​​​​es, but Boulter had to contend with both her compatr​​​​​​​iot's scor​​​​​​​ching shots and the scor​​​​​​​ching British heatwave on Thursday.

At one stage, the national number two required attention and medication from the doctor, but those tablets went down a treat as Boulter rallied to triumph 6-4 1-6 7-5 in a two-hour marathon.

Kartal could not help but force a wry smile as she and Boulter shared a friendly embrace at the net, despite finding herself 4-2 up in the final set before falling victim to a captivating comeback from the reigning champion.

Despite double-faulting seven times over the course of the contest, Boulter extended her tremendous winning sequence at Nottingham to 12 matches; not since being taken out by Ajla Tomljanovic in 2022 has she suffered defeat on these lawns.

Ceding her British number one ranking to Emma Raducanu only served as an additional incentive to prolong her dominant streak at Nottingham, where upcoming foe Kessler has experienced a strikingly similar set of results thus far in 2025.

While Boulter made light work of Lulu Sun before being pushed to the limit by Kartal, Kessler was taken all the way by top seed Beatriz Haddad Maia first up before a more comfortable affair with China's Zhu in round two.

The 267-strong difference between the two in the WTA standings was reflected on the court, as world number 42 Kessler recorded a 6-1 6-4 success over her 309-ranked foe, who is still on the comeback trail from injury.

A dominant first set was not a total precursor to the second, as Zhu drew first blood with a break in the seventh game, but Kessler's response was the most emphatic one imaginable.

The 25-year-old shook off that setback and triumphed in three games on the spin to reach her first WTA quarter-final since the ATX Open in March, where she finished as runner-up to compatriot Jessica Pegula.

Just by reaching the last eight, Kessler has achieved a career-best result on grass and will be rewarded with a semi-final showdown against Rebecca Sramkova or Linda Noskova if she can defy the odds in front of Boulter's boisterous Brits.

Tournament so far

McCartney Kessler:

First round: vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-5 6-7[3] 7-5

Second round: vs. Lin Zhu 6-1 6-4

Katie Boulter​​​​​​​:

First round: vs. Lulu Sun 6-2 6-2

Second round: vs. Sonay Kartal 6-4 1-6 7-5

Head To Head

Friday's quar​​​​​​​ter-final battle mar​​​​​​​ks the fir​​​​​​​st-ever meeting between Boulter and Kessler, who come into the showdown sat just thr​​​​​​​ee places apart in the WTA standings; the Briton r​​​​​​​anks ever so slightly higher​​​​​​​ at world number 39.

Boulter also possesses a miniscule physical advantage, standing at 5ft 11in to Kessler's 5ft 9in, and her 62.5% win rate for 2025 mar​​​​​​​ginally tr​​​​​​​umps the American's 61.5% too.

We say: Boulter to win in three sets

Kessler​​​​​​​'s astounding takedown of Haddad Maia in round one proved that the 25-year-old is a force to be reckoned with on grass, but she still lacks significant experience on the surface compared to Boulter.

We backed the champion to see off Kartal in three, so why change tack? Another energy-zapping battle is sure to be in store, but Boulter should get the job done in the end.

Written by
Ben Knapton

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