Bay Area product McDonald wins Futures doubles

Mackenzie McDonald, shown last September, won the
doubles title in the $25,000 Memphis (Tenn.) Futures with
Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain. Photo by Paul Bauman

   No. 4 seeds Mackenzie McDonald, who grew up near Oakland in Piedmont, and Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain defeated No. 1 Philip Bester of Canada and Alex Lawson of Tempe, Ariz., 6-2, 7-6 (3) Friday for the doubles title in the $25,000 Memphis (Tenn.) Futures.
   It was McDonald's fifth Futures doubles title but first with Glasspool. McDonald, who will turn 22 on April 16, also won the Fairfield (Calif.) Challenger last October with Brian Baker of Nashville, Tenn.
   McDonald, seeded No. 1 in singles, lost to unseeded Jared Hiltzik of Tampa, Fla., 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in today's semifinals.
   McDonald, only 5-foot-10 (1.78 meters) and 145 pounds (66 kilograms), is ranked a career-high No. 235 in singles. Hiltzik, a former Illinois All-American ranked No. 466, will play unseeded Takanyi Garanganga of Zimbabwe in the final. Gaganganga topped Bester, seeded eighth, 6-4, 6-0.
   After beating McDonald 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-2 in the second round of the $100,000 San Francisco Challenger in February, fellow American Denis Kudla said, "For sure, he'll be a top-100 player -- guarantee it -- so I knew it would be tough."
   Kudla, 24, is ranked No. 136 after reaching a career-high No. 53 last May.
   Glasspool and McDonald, now based in Los Angeles, have played separately on the last two NCAA championship doubles teams. Glasspool teamed with Soren Hess-Olesen for Texas in 2015, and McDonald paired with Martin Redlicki for UCLA last year.
   McDonald turned pro last June, forgoing his senior year, after becoming the first man since Matias Boeker of Georgia in 2001 to sweep the NCAA titles.