McDonald Advances at JSM Challenger
November 19, 2015 | Men's Tennis
CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, Ill. -- UCLA junior Mackenzie McDonald advances to the semifinals at the JSM Challenger of Champaign-Urbana after downing Mitchell Krueger in straights in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
McDonald, on a six-match winning streak, ousted third-seeded Ryan Harrison in the round of 16. After dropping the first set to Harrison, 2-6, the Bruin rallied to force a third. Harrison retired before the third set began, however. The match marked the seventh time this year that McDonald has come back to win after losing the first set. The sixth occurred in the round of 32 when McDonald cruised past Jared Hiltzik in the second and third sets after losing the first.
Former Bruin Clay Thompson also advances to the semis in Illinois. The 2014 grad edged the No. 2 seed Austin Krajicek in three sets in the quarterfinals after taking down eighth-seeded Blaz Rola in the round of 16. Krajicek, No. 101 in the ATP rankings, is the highest ranked player Thompson has beaten this year.
In the semis, McDonald faces either first-seeded Malek Jaziri or Taylor Fritz, while Thompson takes on Henri Laaksonen. The last time the two met, Laaksonen edged Thompson, 7-6(6), 6-3, in the qualifying round of 16 in Knoxville, Tenn.
USTA gets one wildcard into the main draw of the Australian Open based on the Charlottesville, Knoxville, and Champaign Challenger results. McDonald is still in the running for the wildcard.
In Other News...
Former UCLA men's tennis player Jean-Julien Rojer advances to the semifinals at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London with partner Horia Tecau. The duo have remained perfect in group play. Second-seeded Rojer and Tecau first beat former Bruin Marcin Matkowski and Nenad Zimonjic on Monday, before edging No. 3 seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo on Wednesday.
Rojer and Tecau are currently No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Race to London, ahead of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who have been the year-end No. 1 team for the past six years.
Dennis Novikov ends his fall campaign at No. 133 on the ATP World Tour. This is Novikov's highest career ranking since turning pro. Novikov won back-to-back ATP Challenger titles earlier this fall. Just one week after topping Harrison in straight sets in Cary, N.C., to capture his first Challenger title, Novikov prevailed, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, over Harrison in Columbus.
Marcos Giron returns to the United States after two ATP tournaments in Australia, where he earned 15 ATP points. Giron advanced to the quarterfinals at the Canberra Tennis International, where he fell to Luke Saville in three sets.
