McDonald advances to $160K Nottingham quarterfinals

Mackenzie McDonald beat lucky loser Zhang Zhizhen of China
in three tough sets in the second round on grass in Nottingham,
England. 2018 photo by Paul Bauman

   Mackenzie McDonald, a 26-year-old product of Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area, outlasted lucky loser Zhang Zhizhen of China 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4 today to reach the quarterfinals of the €132,280 ($160,315) Nottingham Trophy on grass in Nottingham, England.

   Zhang surprised No. 3 seed Andreas Seppi, a former top-20 player from Italy, in the first round on Tuesday. 

   McDonald, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2018, is scheduled to play Anton Matusevich, a 20-year-old wild card from Great Britain, for the first time on Friday. Matusevich beat alternate Thomas Fabbiano of Italy 7-6 (10), 6-4. 

   ATP Tour — Sam Querrey, a 33-year-old San Francisco native now based in Las Vegas, and Austin Krajicek of Plano, Texas, ousted top seeds and reigning Australian Open champions Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Filip Polasek of Slovakia 5-7, 6-1 [10-6] to reach the quarterfinals of the Noventi Open, an ATP 500 tournament on grass in Halle, Germany.

   Andres Molteni and Guido Pella of Argentina topped seventh-seeded Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Ben McLachlan (University of California, Berkeley, 2011-14) of Japan 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6).

   In London, Alex De Minaur of Australia and Cameron Norrie of Great Britain edged third-seeded Rajeev Ram, a volunteer assistant coach at Cal from Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain 5-7, 6-1 [12-10] in the second round of the cinch Championships, an ATP 500 tournament on grass.

   ITF Men's Tour — Sam Riffice, a 22-year-old wild card who grew up in the Sacramento, Calif., suburb of Roseville, defeated qualifier Nathan Ponwith of Scottsdale, Ariz., 7-4, 6-4 in the first round of the $25,000 Tulsa (Okla.) Pro Championships on hardcourts.

   WTA Tour — Sharon Fichman of Canada and Giuliana Olmos, a product of Fremont in the Bay Area who represents Mexico, beat Asia Muhammad of Las Vegas and Jessica Pegula of Boca Raton, Fla., 6-4, 1-6 [10-5] to reach the semifinals of the bett1open, a WTA 500 tournament on grass in Berlin.

   ITF Women's Tour — Katarzyna Kawa of Poland downed Kristie Ahn, a 29-year-old Stanford graduate, 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round of the $100,000 Nottingham Trophy. Ahn fell to 1-8 since March.

   In Sumter, S.C., fifth-seeded Marcela Zacarias of Mexico eliminated 18-year-old wild card Alexandra Yepifanova, a Stanford signee from Lake Worth, Fla., 6-4, 6-0 in the opening round of the $25,000 Palmetto Pro Open on hardcourts.