Tag: Caty McNally

There was an unmistakeable electric buzz in the air on Finals Sunday! During the first order of business, Jelena Ostapenko and Erin Routliffe, who had never played together as doubles partners prior to Charleston, defeated Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk 6-4, 6-2, to take home the title. Then came the singles. This was the first time two U.S. players have met in the finals at this event since Martina Navratilova defeated Jennifer Capriati on Hilton Head Island in 1990. Ultimately, top seed Jessica Pegula captured her first clay-court title, defeating Sofia Kenin, 6-3, 7-5, in this rare all-American matchup. While hugging her dog, Maddie, during the press conference afterwards, Jessica said “It’s my first clay-court title, which is really cool. To win it here in Charleston, it’s super special.” Later that evening, I met up with Jessica downtown for a few special portraits of the NEW CHAMPION!!!

It marks Pegula’s second singles title in her last four tournaments, a prolific stretch that has seen her reach three finals. Pegula will rise to No. 3 in the PIF WTA Rankings on Monday, usurping Coco Gauff as the top ranked American.

Being a former collegiate tennis player, one of my favorite assignments to photograph each year is the Credit One Charleston Open (formerly Volvo Car Open, and Family Circle Cup before that). I don’t follow basketball, football, or baseball. I sometimes keep up with soccer, since I also had a soccer scholarship. But I DO have a subscription to Tennis Channel! So it’s always exciting to be “in the trenches” at this amazing tennis tournament, among the incredible athletes that I follow throughout the year.

Having said that, it is also by far the HARDEST assignment I photograph each year! From the start of qualifying rounds, to the final photoshoot with the champion, I work a total of 9 12-hour days in a row. For my photographer friends who shoot weddings, imagine photographing 9 12-hour weddings in a row?!? Every day is a constant hussle…bouncing back and forth between covering multiple matches, vip appearances, autograph sessions, suite visits, national anthem singers, practice sessions, media appearances, press conferences, and so much more. Plus in between all that, I’m rushing back to the media center to download, cull, and transmit selects for the media team to use in press releases and on social media. But, I’ve been one of the official tournament photographers for almost 20 years now. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t absolutely love it!!!

This year the Credit One Charleston Open celebrates 25 years of award-winning tennis on Daniel Island, where for a quarter century, the world’s best players and finest fans have gathered for nine days of tennis excellence. As the largest women’s only professional tennis tournament in North America, the tournament welcomes nearly 90,000 tennis enthusiasts to the state-of-the-art Credit One Stadium. A WTA 500 event on the Hologic WTA Tour, the tournament features a singles draw of 48 players, a qualifying draw of 24 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. Voted the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year, the Credit One Charleston Open is recognized for excellence in staff and organization, passionate fan engagement, and its commitment to tennis and its athletes. This prestigious award, voted on by WTA players, highlights the event’s impact both on and off the court.

Semifinal Saturday lived up to the hype! The best tennis fans in the country came out in full force. And they were not disappointed!!! The #1 doubles seed of Jelena Ostapenko & Erin Routliffe defeated the Americans, Hailey Baptiste & Caty McNally to advance to the finals. Jessica Pegula took out Ekaterina Alexandrova for her seat on Sunday’s matchup. And Sofia advanced as well, after Amanda Anisimova was forced to withdraw with an injury. So the stage is set! And two Americans will be battling it out for the title on Day 9!!!

Being a former collegiate tennis player, one of my favorite assignments to photograph each year is the Credit One Charleston Open (formerly Volvo Car Open, and Family Circle Cup before that). I don’t follow basketball, football, or baseball. I sometimes keep up with soccer, since I also had a soccer scholarship. But I DO have a subscription to Tennis Channel! So it’s always exciting to be “in the trenches” at this amazing tennis tournament, among the incredible athletes that I follow throughout the year.

Having said that, it is also by far the HARDEST assignment I photograph each year! From the start of qualifying rounds, to the final photoshoot with the champion, I work a total of 9 12-hour days in a row. For my photographer friends who shoot weddings, imagine photographing 9 12-hour weddings in a row?!? Every day is a constant hussle…bouncing back and forth between covering multiple matches, vip appearances, autograph sessions, suite visits, national anthem singers, practice sessions, media appearances, press conferences, and so much more. Plus in between all that, I’m rushing back to the media center to download, cull, and transmit selects for the media team to use in press releases and on social media. But, I’ve been one of the official tournament photographers for almost 20 years now. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t absolutely love it!!!

This year the Credit One Charleston Open celebrates 25 years of award-winning tennis on Daniel Island, where for a quarter century, the world’s best players and finest fans have gathered for nine days of tennis excellence. As the largest women’s only professional tennis tournament in North America, the tournament welcomes nearly 90,000 tennis enthusiasts to the state-of-the-art Credit One Stadium. A WTA 500 event on the Hologic WTA Tour, the tournament features a singles draw of 48 players, a qualifying draw of 24 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. Voted the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year, the Credit One Charleston Open is recognized for excellence in staff and organization, passionate fan engagement, and its commitment to tennis and its athletes. This prestigious award, voted on by WTA players, highlights the event’s impact both on and off the court.

At the start of Day 7, I had the honor of photographing the creator of the spectacular topiary in front of Credit One Stadium, and the creator of the hand-crafted glass trophy that the “Trophiary” is modeled after. The gorgeous glass trophy for the Credit One Charleston Open was crafted by David Russell, a South Carolina artist and glassblower. The spectacular topiary was created by artist Mike Gibson. To build this stunning living art he pruned a 12′ Holly tree into the shape of the trophy, and used over 200 plants around it to add color and texture.

Being a former collegiate tennis player, one of my favorite assignments to photograph each year is the Credit One Charleston Open (formerly Volvo Car Open, and Family Circle Cup before that). I don’t follow basketball, football, or baseball. I sometimes keep up with soccer, since I also had a soccer scholarship. But I DO have a subscription to Tennis Channel! So it’s always exciting to be “in the trenches” at this amazing tennis tournament, among the incredible athletes that I follow throughout the year.

Having said that, it is also by far the HARDEST assignment I photograph each year! From the start of qualifying rounds, to the final photoshoot with the champion, I work a total of 9 12-hour days in a row. For my photographer friends who shoot weddings, imagine photographing 9 12-hour weddings in a row?!? Every day is a constant hussle…bouncing back and forth between covering multiple matches, vip appearances, autograph sessions, suite visits, national anthem singers, practice sessions, media appearances, press conferences, and so much more. Plus in between all that, I’m rushing back to the media center to download, cull, and transmit selects for the media team to use in press releases and on social media. But, I’ve been one of the official tournament photographers for almost 20 years now. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t absolutely love it!!!

This year the Credit One Charleston Open celebrates 25 years of award-winning tennis on Daniel Island, where for a quarter century, the world’s best players and finest fans have gathered for nine days of tennis excellence. As the largest women’s only professional tennis tournament in North America, the tournament welcomes nearly 90,000 tennis enthusiasts to the state-of-the-art Credit One Stadium. A WTA 500 event on the Hologic WTA Tour, the tournament features a singles draw of 48 players, a qualifying draw of 24 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. Voted the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year, the Credit One Charleston Open is recognized for excellence in staff and organization, passionate fan engagement, and its commitment to tennis and its athletes. This prestigious award, voted on by WTA players, highlights the event’s impact both on and off the court.

The highlight of Day 6 is Military Night, with a Color Guard presentation and a special National Anthem singer. But before we get to that, there are so many high-class tennis matches to get through! We are narrowing down the field. And this is one of the last days we’ll see the Althea Gibson court in use. Some of the best players in the world, like Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Emma Navarro, Daria Kasatkina, Amanda Anisimova, Yulia Putintseva, Danielle Collins, Jelena Ostapenko, Ashlyn Krueger, Sofia Kenin, and Anna Kalinskaya are battling to stay in the tournament to the bitter end!

Being a former collegiate tennis player, one of my favorite assignments to photograph each year is the Credit One Charleston Open (formerly Volvo Car Open, and Family Circle Cup before that). I don’t follow basketball, football, or baseball. I sometimes keep up with soccer, since I also had a soccer scholarship. But I DO have a subscription to Tennis Channel! So it’s always exciting to be “in the trenches” at this amazing tennis tournament, among the incredible athletes that I follow throughout the year.

Having said that, it is also by far the HARDEST assignment I photograph each year! From the start of qualifying rounds, to the final photoshoot with the champion, I work a total of 9 12-hour days in a row. For my photographer friends who shoot weddings, imagine photographing 9 12-hour weddings in a row?!? Every day is a constant hussle…bouncing back and forth between covering multiple matches, vip appearances, autograph sessions, suite visits, national anthem singers, practice sessions, media appearances, press conferences, and so much more. Plus in between all that, I’m rushing back to the media center to download, cull, and transmit selects for the media team to use in press releases and on social media. But, I’ve been one of the official tournament photographers for almost 20 years now. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t absolutely love it!!!

This year the Credit One Charleston Open celebrates 25 years of award-winning tennis on Daniel Island, where for a quarter century, the world’s best players and finest fans have gathered for nine days of tennis excellence. As the largest women’s only professional tennis tournament in North America, the tournament welcomes nearly 90,000 tennis enthusiasts to the state-of-the-art Credit One Stadium. A WTA 500 event on the Hologic WTA Tour, the tournament features a singles draw of 48 players, a qualifying draw of 24 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. Voted the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year, the Credit One Charleston Open is recognized for excellence in staff and organization, passionate fan engagement, and its commitment to tennis and its athletes. This prestigious award, voted on by WTA players, highlights the event’s impact both on and off the court.

Day 4 at COCO 2025 saw action in full swing! With few bye’s left in the draw, bigger names started hitting the court. Plus there were a lot of fun off-court activities, such as The Charleston Battery coming out to interact with some top American players, Allie Riske and Lauren Davis.

Being a former collegiate tennis player, one of my favorite assignments to photograph each year is the Credit One Charleston Open (formerly Volvo Car Open, and Family Circle Cup before that). I don’t follow basketball, football, or baseball. I sometimes keep up with soccer, since I also had a soccer scholarship. But I DO have a subscription to Tennis Channel! So it’s always exciting to be “in the trenches” at this amazing tennis tournament, among the incredible athletes that I follow throughout the year.

Having said that, it is also by far the HARDEST assignment I photograph each year! From the start of qualifying rounds, to the final photoshoot with the champion, I work a total of 9 12-hour days in a row. For my photographer friends who shoot weddings, imagine photographing 9 12-hour weddings in a row?!? Every day is a constant hussle…bouncing back and forth between covering multiple matches, vip appearances, autograph sessions, suite visits, national anthem singers, practice sessions, media appearances, press conferences, and so much more. Plus in between all that, I’m rushing back to the media center to download, cull, and transmit selects for the media team to use in press releases and on social media. But, I’ve been one of the official tournament photographers for almost 20 years now. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t absolutely love it!!!

This year the Credit One Charleston Open celebrates 25 years of award-winning tennis on Daniel Island, where for a quarter century, the world’s best players and finest fans have gathered for nine days of tennis excellence. As the largest women’s only professional tennis tournament in North America, the tournament welcomes nearly 90,000 tennis enthusiasts to the state-of-the-art Credit One Stadium. A WTA 500 event on the Hologic WTA Tour, the tournament features a singles draw of 48 players, a qualifying draw of 24 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. Voted the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year, the Credit One Charleston Open is recognized for excellence in staff and organization, passionate fan engagement, and its commitment to tennis and its athletes. This prestigious award, voted on by WTA players, highlights the event’s impact both on and off the court.

Media Day takes place on the 1st day of the Main Draw, which is the 3rd day of the tournament. It’s an important opportunity for writers and video crews to get important quotes and video clips of the top seeds. As one of the tournament photographers, I get to photograph portraits of each of these top seeds, as well as behind-the-scenes coverage of Media Day!

Being a former collegiate tennis player, one of my favorite assignments to photograph each year is the Credit One Charleston Open (formerly Volvo Car Open, and Family Circle Cup before that). I don’t follow basketball, football, or baseball. I sometimes keep up with soccer, since I also had a soccer scholarship. But I DO have a subscription to Tennis Channel! So it’s always exciting to be “in the trenches” at this amazing tennis tournament, among the incredible athletes that I follow throughout the year.

Having said that, it is also by far the HARDEST assignment I photograph each year! From the start of qualifying rounds, to the final photoshoot with the champion, I work a total of 9 12-hour days in a row. For my photographer friends who shoot weddings, imagine photographing 9 12-hour weddings in a row?!? Every day is a constant hussle…bouncing back and forth between covering multiple matches, vip appearances, autograph sessions, suite visits, national anthem singers, practice sessions, media appearances, press conferences, and so much more. Plus in between all that, I’m rushing back to the media center to download, cull, and transmit selects for the media team to use in press releases and on social media. But, I’ve been one of the official tournament photographers for almost 20 years now. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t absolutely love it!!!

This year the Credit One Charleston Open celebrates 25 years of award-winning tennis on Daniel Island, where for a quarter century, the world’s best players and finest fans have gathered for nine days of tennis excellence. As the largest women’s only professional tennis tournament in North America, the tournament welcomes nearly 90,000 tennis enthusiasts to the state-of-the-art Credit One Stadium. A WTA 500 event on the Hologic WTA Tour, the tournament features a singles draw of 48 players, a qualifying draw of 24 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. Voted the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year, the Credit One Charleston Open is recognized for excellence in staff and organization, passionate fan engagement, and its commitment to tennis and its athletes. This prestigious award, voted on by WTA players, highlights the event’s impact both on and off the court.

Day 3 of the tournament marks the end of Qualifying Rounds, and the beginning of the Main Draw. The day was full of exciting tennis, fun autograph sessions, player interviews on the deck with commentator Pippa Horn, and great fan interactions!

Being a former collegiate tennis player, one of my favorite assignments to photograph each year is the Credit One Charleston Open (formerly Volvo Car Open, and Family Circle Cup before that). I don’t follow basketball, football, or baseball. I sometimes keep up with soccer, since I also had a soccer scholarship. But I DO have a subscription to Tennis Channel! So it’s always exciting to be “in the trenches” at this amazing tennis tournament, among the incredible athletes that I follow throughout the year.

Having said that, it is also by far the HARDEST assignment I photograph each year! From the start of qualifying rounds, to the final photoshoot with the champion, I work a total of 9 12-hour days in a row. For my photographer friends who shoot weddings, imagine photographing 9 12-hour weddings in a row?!? Every day is a constant hussle…bouncing back and forth between covering multiple matches, vip appearances, autograph sessions, suite visits, national anthem singers, practice sessions, media appearances, press conferences, and so much more. Plus in between all that, I’m rushing back to the media center to download, cull, and transmit selects for the media team to use in press releases and on social media. But, I’ve been one of the official tournament photographers for almost 20 years now. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t absolutely love it!!!

This year the Credit One Charleston Open celebrates 25 years of award-winning tennis on Daniel Island, where for a quarter century, the world’s best players and finest fans have gathered for nine days of tennis excellence. As the largest women’s only professional tennis tournament in North America, the tournament welcomes nearly 90,000 tennis enthusiasts to the state-of-the-art Credit One Stadium. A WTA 500 event on the Hologic WTA Tour, the tournament features a singles draw of 48 players, a qualifying draw of 24 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. Voted the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year, the Credit One Charleston Open is recognized for excellence in staff and organization, passionate fan engagement, and its commitment to tennis and its athletes. This prestigious award, voted on by WTA players, highlights the event’s impact both on and off the court.

At the end of Qualifying Rounds, all the players are invited to a fun Player Party! It’s the tournement’s way of saying welcome back to Charleston!!! This year, I had the honor of photographing the official “Purple Carpet” photos as players and VIP’s arrived. Purple being the tournament’s color, we use a purple carpet instead of a red one. 🙂 This year’s Player Party was held at The Peacock.

Being a former collegiate tennis player, one of my favorite assignments to photograph each year is the Credit One Charleston Open (formerly Volvo Car Open, and Family Circle Cup before that). I don’t follow basketball, football, or baseball. I sometimes keep up with soccer, since I also had a soccer scholarship. But I DO have a subscription to Tennis Channel! So it’s always exciting to be “in the trenches” at this amazing tennis tournament, among the incredible athletes that I follow throughout the year.

Having said that, it is also by far the HARDEST assignment I photograph each year! From the start of qualifying rounds, to the final photoshoot with the champion, I work a total of 9 12-hour days in a row. For my photographer friends who shoot weddings, imagine photographing 9 12-hour weddings in a row?!? Every day is a constant hussle…bouncing back and forth between covering multiple matches, vip appearances, autograph sessions, suite visits, national anthem singers, practice sessions, media appearances, press conferences, and so much more. Plus in between all that, I’m rushing back to the media center to download, cull, and transmit selects for the media team to use in press releases and on social media. But, I’ve been one of the official tournament photographers for almost 20 years now. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t absolutely love it!!!

This year the Credit One Charleston Open celebrates 25 years of award-winning tennis on Daniel Island, where for a quarter century, the world’s best players and finest fans have gathered for nine days of tennis excellence. As the largest women’s only professional tennis tournament in North America, the tournament welcomes nearly 90,000 tennis enthusiasts to the state-of-the-art Credit One Stadium. A WTA 500 event on the Hologic WTA Tour, the tournament features a singles draw of 48 players, a qualifying draw of 24 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. Voted the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year, the Credit One Charleston Open is recognized for excellence in staff and organization, passionate fan engagement, and its commitment to tennis and its athletes. This prestigious award, voted on by WTA players, highlights the event’s impact both on and off the court.

There are 2 days of Qualifying Rounds at the Credit One Charleston Open. Those who qualify, join the other higher-ranked players who are already eligible for the Main Draw. What’s fun about these first two days is that while the competition among the qualifiers is intense, the overall atmosphere is more relaxed. Higher ranked players are just arriving into town, getting their first practice sessions on the green clay, and catching up with their friends on tour. Plus it’s Family Weekend, with tons of fun activities for kids of all ages!

Being a former collegiate tennis player, one of my favorite assignments to photograph each year is the Credit One Charleston Open (formerly Volvo Car Open, and Family Circle Cup before that). I don’t follow basketball, football, or baseball. I sometimes keep up with soccer, since I also had a soccer scholarship. But I DO have a subscription to Tennis Channel! So it’s always exciting to be “in the trenches” at this amazing tennis tournament, among the incredible athletes that I follow throughout the year.

Having said that, it is also by far the HARDEST assignment I photograph each year! From the start of qualifying rounds, to the final photoshoot with the champion, I work a total of 9 12-hour days in a row. For my photographer friends who shoot weddings, imagine photographing 9 12-hour weddings in a row?!? Every day is a constant hussle…bouncing back and forth between covering multiple matches, vip appearances, autograph sessions, suite visits, national anthem singers, practice sessions, media appearances, press conferences, and so much more. Plus in between all that, I’m rushing back to the media center to download, cull, and transmit selects for the media team to use in press releases and on social media. But, I’ve been one of the official tournament photographers for almost 20 years now. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t absolutely love it!!!

This year the Credit One Charleston Open celebrates 25 years of award-winning tennis on Daniel Island, where for a quarter century, the world’s best players and finest fans have gathered for nine days of tennis excellence. As the largest women’s only professional tennis tournament in North America, the tournament welcomes nearly 90,000 tennis enthusiasts to the state-of-the-art Credit One Stadium. A WTA 500 event on the Hologic WTA Tour, the tournament features a singles draw of 48 players, a qualifying draw of 24 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. Voted the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year, the Credit One Charleston Open is recognized for excellence in staff and organization, passionate fan engagement, and its commitment to tennis and its athletes. This prestigious award, voted on by WTA players, highlights the event’s impact both on and off the court.

There are 2 days of Qualifying Rounds at the Credit One Charleston Open. Those who qualify, join the other higher-ranked players who are already eligible for the Main Draw. What’s fun about these first two days is that while the competition among the qualifiers is intense, the overall atmosphere is more relaxed. Higher ranked players are just arriving into town, getting their first practice sessions on the green clay, and catching up with their friends on tour. Plus it’s Family Weekend, with tons of fun activities for kids of all ages!

Being a former collegiate tennis player, one of my favorite assignments to photograph each year is the Credit One Charleston Open (formerly Volvo Car Open, and Family Circle Cup before that). I don’t follow basketball, football, or baseball. I sometimes keep up with soccer, since I also had a soccer scholarship. But I DO have a subscription to Tennis Channel! So it’s always exciting to be “in the trenches” at this amazing tennis tournament, among the incredible athletes that I follow throughout the year.

Having said that, it is also by far the HARDEST assignment I photograph each year! From the start of qualifying rounds, to the final photoshoot with the champion, I work a total of 9 12-hour days in a row. For my photographer friends who shoot weddings, imagine photographing 9 12-hour weddings in a row?!? Every day is a constant hussle…bouncing back and forth between covering multiple matches, vip appearances, autograph sessions, suite visits, national anthem singers, practice sessions, media appearances, press conferences, and so much more. Plus in between all that, I’m rushing back to the media center to download, cull, and transmit selects for the media team to use in press releases and on social media. But, I’ve been one of the official tournament photographers for almost 20 years now. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t absolutely love it!!!

This year the Credit One Charleston Open celebrates 25 years of award-winning tennis on Daniel Island, where for a quarter century, the world’s best players and finest fans have gathered for nine days of tennis excellence. As the largest women’s only professional tennis tournament in North America, the tournament welcomes nearly 90,000 tennis enthusiasts to the state-of-the-art Credit One Stadium. A WTA 500 event on the Hologic WTA Tour, the tournament features a singles draw of 48 players, a qualifying draw of 24 players and a doubles draw of 16 players. Voted the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year, the Credit One Charleston Open is recognized for excellence in staff and organization, passionate fan engagement, and its commitment to tennis and its athletes. This prestigious award, voted on by WTA players, highlights the event’s impact both on and off the court.