APTOS >> Mackenzie McDonald has never competed in the main singles draw of the Comerica Bank Challenger. But he has defeated one of the tournament”s former champions.
That should be a nice conversation starter for when the incoming sophomore at UCLA comes to Aptos this week. Saturday, McDonald was named one of four wild card entries to this year”s Challenger event, which begins Monday with first-round play at the Seascape Sports Club.
“It doesn”t mean I”m going to win this tournament,” said McDonald, 19, who defeated 2012 Comerica Bank Challenger champion Steve Johnson in three sets last summer.
“But I”ll try,” he added. “We”ll see what happens.”
Cal Poly alum Andre Dome, Georgia Tech grad Kevin King and former UCLA Bruin Marcos Giron, who in May won the NCAA men”s singles championship and turned pro earlier this month, were also selected.
“I haven”t been as successful as I would have liked, but I”m getting better each week,” said Giron, who was named the ITA National Play of the Year shortly after winning the NCAA title this year. The Thousand Oaks native, who decided to forego his final season of eligibility with the Bruins, was a two-time ITA All-American and finished the 2014 season as the nation”s No. 1-ranked singles player.
“It”s definitely different than college tennis. There”s a bit of a learning curve,” Giron said.
Aptos will mark the 21-year-old”s fourth tournament since turning pro, although he”s still trying to get out of the first round. He lost to Takanyi Garanganga in Binghamton, N.Y., Austin Krajicek in Lexington, Kent, and Andrea Collarini in Vancouver, B.C.
“Being from California, I”m comfortable here,” said Giron, who competed in Aptos last year but didn”t advance past the qualifying rounds. He”ll open first-round play against Croatia”s Ante Pavic, ranked No. 139 on the ATP World Tour.
“Hopefully I”ll get that first round win,” he added. “Get that monkey off my back.”
Giron expects to have his parents in attendance, as well as his former doubles partner in McDonald, with whom he won the Costa Mesa Pro Tennis Classic in September.
The Berkeley native and Piedmont High graduate last summer became the first unranked player in history to qualify for an event on the ATP Tour Masters 1000 — nine tournaments that are considered a step below the four Grand Slam events. McDonald qualified for the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where he defeated Nicolas Mahut (3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4) and Johnson (3-6, 6-4, 6-4) during qualifying singles.
The two victories rank high on McDonald”s resume.
“I”ve just got to keep working hard and do my best,” said McDonald, who was the No. 1-ranked player of his recruiting class going into college.
King, 23, was the highest ranked American recruit to ever enroll at Georgia Tech, where he ultimately reached as high as No. 7 in the nation in singles play as a senior. King, who last played in the Atlanta Open, is also the highest ranked among the four wild card entries at No. 330 on the ATP World Tour.
Dome, the lowest ranked at No. 1,237, could be formidable since he”s been here before. He made the main singles draw at Aptos a year ago, falling to Ruben Bemelmans in the first round.
“For me, I”m trying to get the experience,” said McDonald, who has competed in five tournaments this summer already, and reached the semifinals of the Winnetka Challenger in Illinois.
“I do want to build my ranking,” he added. “But also, I”m just trying to build experience.”
Contact Andrew Matheson at 831-706-3272.
Comerica Bank Challenger
Qualifying Matches
Saturday”s Results
• Laurynas Grigelis, bye
• Richard Grabb def. Alexander Sarkissian, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
• David Hsu def. Mac Styslinger, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
• Sanam Singh def. Clay Thompson, 7-6 (6), 6-3
• Dennis Novikov def. Daniel Smethurst, 3-1, ret.
• Bumpei Sato def. David Sofaer, 6-3, 6-2
• Cesar Ramirez def. Nicolas Chua, 6-3, 6-0
• Dennis Nevolo def. Joshua Milton, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4
• Yasutaka Uchiyama def. Gabriel Coren, 6-1, 6-2
• Mico Santiago def. Randy Cory, 7-5, 6-2
• Alexios Halebian def. Jeff Wilson, 6-1, 6-2
• Nicolas Meister def. Fritz Wolmarans 6-4, 6-4
• Yoshihito Nishioka def. Denny Fafek, 6-2, 6-1
• Daniel Nguyen def. Oren Motevassel, 6-2, 6-1
• Connor Farren def. Takura Happy, 6-1, 6-1
• Takanyi Garanganga def. Kento Tanaka-Tamaki, 6-3, 6-1
Sunday”s Matches
• Grigelis vs. Grabb
• Hsu vs. Singh
• Novikov vs. Sato
• Ramirez vs. Nevolo
• Uchiyama vs. Santiago
• Halebian vs. Meister
• Nishioka vs. Nguyen
• Farren vs. Garanganga
