The fall season for the UCLA men’s tennis team features multiple college tournaments where players compete individually rather than as a team. Sophomore Mackenzie McDonald has already had his share of success this fall, winning the singles and doubles titles at the USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Championships.
While the fall season concluded for his teammates upon the completion of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships last weekend, McDonald has one more tournament to compete in – the ITF Futures Tournament in Mazatlan, Mexico. But there’s a catch: It’s a tournament with professional players from around the world.
“The USTA really wanted him to go down and they’re certainly a big part of his future, especially during the summers,” said coach Billy Martin. “I think it’s good for him to get one more event in before we break for the season.”
For McDonald, who is supported by the United States Tennis Association, this isn’t his first go-around on the professional circuit, as he participated in 10 pro events over the summer and has played in more in previous years. He reached an ATP ranking as high as 480 in July, but it currently sits at 632.
“I’ve played pro tournaments for like four years,” McDonald said. “I’ve played in the U.S. Open men’s qualifying, so I definitely have experience. This is nothing new, but I just want to get some good competition.”
McDonald does not have to qualify for the main draw, since his ranking is high enough for him to automatically gain acceptance. Nevertheless, he is one of the lower seeds in the tournament and will face tougher competition than he is used to at the college level, as many of the top-seeds are ranked in the 300s.
Some of those opponents could be his past teammates, as former Bruins Marcos Giron and Clay Thompson are both participating in the tournament as well. They are now both playing on the professional circuit, something that McDonald hopes to do himself.
“I know what they’re going through a little bit because I experienced it over the summer,” McDonald said. “But it will be good to see them though. … It will be good to catch up with them.”
After starting to play tennis at age 3, he said becoming a professional has always been his dream. According to Martin, McDonald is willing to do whatever it takes to get better. This is something that does not go unnoticed by his teammates.
“(He demonstrates) how take to your tennis seriously, like all the stuff off the court, (such as) stretching and hydrating,” said freshman Martin Redlicki, who is McDonald’s doubles’ partner at UCLA. “He’s a pretty professional guy. He’s on top of his stuff, and that’s a pretty big thing.”
His coaches see the same thing, as they know that McDonald is on a mission to achieve his dream.
“He has that dream to want to go play pro tennis, so consequently that means a lot of hard work. … We know he wants to do that, we know he’s willing to put that work in,” Martin said. “Consequently, that raises the bar for the rest of the team when they see him working hard. It’s harder for them to slough off as much as maybe they would like to, because not everybody has that dream.”