McDonald can't maintain momentum in Munich

Mackenzie McDonald, a San Francisco Bay Area product, fell to
fellow qualifier Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-2 today in the
second round of the BMW Open on clay in Munich. 2016 photo
by Paul Bauman

   Mackenzie McDonald beat a seed on Tuesday but lost to a fellow qualifier today.

   Go figure.

   Ilya Ivashka, 27, of Belarus topped McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area, 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the BMW Open on clay in Munich.  

   The 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Ivashka, ranked No. 107, faced only two break points and saved both. The 5-foot-10 (1.78-meter) McDonald, ranked No. 127, took out sixth-seed Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.

   McDonald, now based in Orlando, Fla., became the only American man to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open in February. He also advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018. In each tournament, McDonald beat three top-100 players.

   In the first round of doubles in Estoril, Portugal, Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14), a New Zealand native who plays for his mother's native Japan, dispatched Simone Bolelli of Italy and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina 6-2, 6-3.

   Bolelli and countryman Fabio Fognini won the 2015 Australian Open.

   ITF Women's Tour — Qualifier Maria Mateas, a 21-year-old American born in Romania, outlasted third-seeded Kristie Ahn, a 28-year-old Stanford graduate from Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in 3 hours, 2 minutes in the first round of the $60,000 Women's Pro Event at the Boars Head Resort on clay in Charlottesville, Va.

   In the opening round of doubles, Catherine Harrison of Germantown, Tenn., and Maria Sanchez, a 31-year-old product of Modesto, Calif., routed fourth-seeded Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway and Quinn Gleason of the United States 6-0, 6-3.