McDonald Shines at Australian Open
January 17, 2018 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES -- Former UCLA men's tennis player Mackenzie McDonald had his finest showing as a professional over the first nine days of play at the 2018 Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia. After needing to run off three victories in order to qualify, McDonald recorded his first Grand Slam win before narrowly falling to third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in the Round of 64.
As the No. 178-ranked McDonald fought Dimitrov tooth and nail through five sets over three hours and 25 minutes at Rod Laver Arena just shy of Thursday Down Under, many eyes in and around Westwood were anxiously glued to televisions before sunrise Wednesday morning.
"We were all so very proud of Mackie's performance last night at the Australian Open," said UCLA men's head tennis coach Billy Martin. "I think that Bruin Nation was all really, really pleased with his performance."
After McDonald captured the first set, the defending Australian Open semifinalist Dimitrov responded by taking the next two and placing McDonald on the brink of elimination. The Piedmont, Calif. native did not back down, in fact blanking the Bulgarian to force a decisive fifth set. A double fault proved to be McDonald's undoing, though, and Dimitrov moved on, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6.
Despite the loss, McDonald leaves Melbourne with his first Grand Slam victory, a 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 triumph over Elias Ymer of Sweden in the Round of 128. He also earned a trio of wins in qualifying, making quick work of fellow American Noah Rubin (6-1, 6-0) and Slovakian Jozef Kovalik (6-2, 6-2) before going to three sets against Frenchman Stephane Robert (7-6 [5], 6-7 [7], 6-4).
McDonald racked up award after award during his three years at UCLA, culminating in NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships (with current Bruin Martin Redlicki) in 2016—a feat that had not been accomplished by a men's player in 15 years. He earned All-American recognition each of his three years and was crowned the 2016 ITA National Men's College Player of the Year. He is also the only Bruin to earn a pair of Pac-12 Player of the Year awards (2015, 2016).
The Australian Open stint was not the first Grand Slam experience for McDonald, who pushed Jan Šátral to five sets as a wild card at the 2016 US Open. The McDonald-Redlicki team was also selected to the doubles draw as a wild card, though was ousted by the top-seeded French tandem of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in straight sets.
"I think this will give Mackie a lot of confidence moving forward with his pro career," Martin added. "And I hope with all the hard work that he's put in already and more to come, he'll have a chance to win a Grand Slam one day."
Players Mentioned
