McDonald wins, Altamirano falls in 25K Los Angeles

Mackenzie McDonald, serving in the
Stockton (Calif.) Challenger last Octo-
ber, reached today's semifinals in Los
Angeles. Photo by Paul Bauman

   One Northern California product won Friday in the quarterfinals of the USC/Los Angeles $25,000 Tennis Tournament, but another lost.
   No. 5 seed Mackenzie McDonald, who grew up in Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, defeated No. 2 Roberto Quiroz, a former USC All-American from Ecuador, 6-3, 7-5.
   Qualifier Collin Altamirano of Sacramento lost to University of Virginia teammate Carl Soderlund, seeded eighth, 7-6 (7), 6-3.
   McDonald, who turned pro last June after sweeping the NCAA singles and doubles titles as a UCLA junior, will meet No. 4 seed Yannick Hanfmann, another ex-USC All-American.
   Hanfmann beat fellow German Sebastian Fanselow, a former Pepperdine All-American, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
   Altamirano, a junior who has starred on two NCAA championship teams at Virginia, stunned top seed and 2015 French Open junior champion Tommy Paul of Boca Raton, Fla., in the first round.
   Soderlund, a freshman from Sweden, will play No. 6 seed Evan King, an ex-Michigan All-American. King held off No. 3 Emilio Gomez, a former USC All-American from Ecuador, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5.
   Soderlund stunned Sam Groth, a former top-60 player from Australia, in the first round of the $50,000 Charlottesville (Va.) Challenger last fall before losing to fourth-seeded Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va., in the second round. The tournament was held at the University of Virginia's indoor courts.
   Groth holds the unofficial record for the world's fastest serve, 163.7 mph (263.4 kph) in the 2012 Busan (South Korea) Challenger.