Mackie McDonald was close to reaching his first challenger event final this past Saturday.
The UCLA junior was defeated, however, in three sets by the No. 1-seeded Denis Kudla in the semifinal match of the Tiburon Challenger. After being routed in the first set 2-6, McDonald bounced back to control the second set. The momentum would not last long and he eventually lost 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.
This was one of McDonald’s best showings at challenger event. He has reached the semifinal of a challenger only one other time, at the 2014 Nielsen Pro Tennis Championship.
The NCAA men’s tennis season doesn’t start until January, but McDonald is keeping busy playing in the pro circuit. The No. 3 college player in the nation has been participating in multiple futures and challenger events over the summer, and plans on continuing throughout the fall.
The rest of the UCLA team traveled to Tulsa, Okla., for the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships to participate in the qualifying rounds.
Three of the Bruins started in the pre-qualifying round. Sophomore Austin Rapp lost in the first round to Terrell Whitehurst of Florida State 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). He went on to the qualifying consolation round, defeating Ole Miss freshman Robert Mounger 6-2, 6-4.
Junior Joe Di Giulio successfully made it to the third pre-qualifying round, but lost to Jakob Amilon from UNLV 6-4, 6-2 and redshirt senior Ryoto Tachi was defeated in the second pre-qualifying round 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
On Monday, sophomore Martin Redlicki and senior Karue Sell each won first-round matches to advance to the second round of qualifying singles.
Redlicki, the first seed, beat Tulsa’s Juan Matias Gonzalez in straight sets, while Sell took a bit longer in his match, defeating LSU’s Boris Arias by winning a third-set tiebreaker. Arias had five match points during the grueling battle but Sell saved all five en route to a victory.
Compiled by Korbin Placet, Bruin Sports senior staff.