by Bobby Knight | Oct 18, 2017 | Blog
This past week was a good one for recent NCAA singles champions with the 2016 champ Mackenzie McDonald winning the $100K Fairfield Challenger while the 2017 champ Thai Kwiatkowski won the $25K Houston Futures. Prior to last week McDonald’s best performance at the Challenger-level was the semifinals but he plowed past that point with a straight set win over Australia’s Christopher O’Connell and then in the finals he defeated Bradley Klahn 6-4, 6-2. McDonald earned a $14,400 payday plus he picked up 90 ATP ranking points which moved him up to a new career-high ranking of 164. .@mackiemacster reflects on his maiden #ATPChallenger title...
by Bobby Knight | Mar 21, 2017 | Blog
Last Friday night Mackenzie McDonald and Danielle Collins were selected by a panel of six as the two inaugural winners of the Oracle US Tennis Awards. Both McDonald and Collins, who were the 2016 NCAA singles champions, won a $100,000 grant to help with their transition from college to professional tennis. Collins, who was actually a two-time NCAA singles champion, currently has a career-high WTA ranking of 237 after having no ranking when she graduated from Virginia last May. McDonald, who left UCLA after his junior year, currently has a career-high ATP ranking of 245 after having a ranking of 427 when he officially turned pro. The full release is available...
by Bobby Knight | Jan 8, 2017 | Blog
Mackenzie McDonald may have left school after his junior year at UCLA but the 2016 NCAA singles champion felt right at home on a college campus as he won his second career pro singles title with a straight set win over Virginia freshman Carl Soderlund at the $25K USC/LA USA F1 Futures. Soderlund came into the match having won 8 of 9 sets this week and it looked like he’d make it 9 of 10 after the Stockholm, Sweden, native opened up an early 4-1 lead. Soderlund held fairly comfortably in each of his first three service games while also breaking McDonald’s second service game at love courtesy of two double faults. McDonald held from 40/15 to...
by Bobby Knight | Jan 7, 2017 | Blog
Virginia first year Carl Soderlund still hasn’t played an official collegiate match but the 19-year old from Sweden has already defeated several of college’s elite this week at the $25K USC/Los Angeles USA F1 Futures. Soderlund met Evan King (Michigan ’13) on Saturday afternoon in a match that started four hours later than scheduled due to a morning downpour. Soderlund started off the match with a hold and then after three consecutive breaks he would hold again for a 4-1 first set lead. After another set of holds, King rallied to even it at 5-5 with a hold, break, and yet another hold. King had a break point to go up 6-5 but Soderlund...
by Bobby Knight | Jan 7, 2017 | Blog
Yannick Hanfmann (USC ’15) was the big winner on Friday at the $25K USC/Los Angeles USA F1 Futures. The 6’4″ German started off the day playing a fellow 6’4″ German in former Pepperdine Wave Sebastian Fanselow. The opening set stayed on serve through the first five games until Fanselow broke Hanfmann at love to go ahead 4-2. Fanselow would hold for 5-2 and then break in a one-deuce game to claim the opening set 6-2. Hanfmann struck first in the second set when he broke for a 3-2 lead and then two games later he broke again to go up 5-2. A love hold would give Hanfmann a 6-2 set to send it to a winner take all third set.Hanfmann...
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