Michael Mackenzie Lowe McDonald (born April 16, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 37 in singles and No. 49 in doubles in October 2023. He won the 2016 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships in both singles and doubles.
Junior career
McDonald was a semifinalist in the boys' singles of the 2012 Australian Open. In 2012, he reached a career high ranking in the ITF World Tour Junior Rankings of number 12 and won the 18s singles title at the 2012 Easter Bowl. While still a junior, he won the men's singles title at the amateur Ojai Tennis Tournament in 2013, and also qualified for the 2013 Cincinnati Masters at age 18 by defeating top 100 players Nicolas Mahut and Steve Johnson. However, he lost in the first round of the main draw to fellow qualifier David Goffin.
College career
2014
McDonald was listed as the No. 1 player coming into college according to the ITA. As a freshman at UCLA, he was named a Singles All-American and the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. McDonald was also a quarterfinalist at the NCAA singles championship while compiling a 33–9 record during the season, including an 18–4 record in dual matches.
2015
At the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship, he defeated top-ranked Axel Alvarez of Oklahoma during team competition. He played #1 singles and doubles for the UCLA Bruins for most of the season.
2016
During the 2016 season, he helped his Bruins to the quarterfinals of the Division I Tennis Team Championship. Then on Memorial Day, May 30, McDonald defeated the No. 1 ranked Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State University for the singles championship at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He became the 12th UCLA Bruins player to win the singles title. McDonald also teamed with Martin Redlicki to play for the doubles championship. They defeated the team of Arthur Rinderknech and Jackson Withrow from Texas A&M to win the doubles individual championship. In doing so, McDonald became the first college player to win both the national singles and doubles titles since Matías Boeker of the University of Georgia in 2001. After the NCAA tournament, on June 16, 2016, he announced that he would not return to UCLA for his senior year, but turn professional.
Professional career
2013–2015: ATP main draw debut
At age 18, McDonald qualified for the 2013 Western & Southern Open by defeating two top 100 players despite never previously having earned an ATP point. He became the first unranked teenager to qualify for an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament since Sergio Casal at the 1995 Miami Masters. McDonald lost in the first round to David Goffin in straight sets. He was subsequently given a wildcard entry into the 2013 US Open qualifying.
McDonald qualified into the main draw of the 2014 Challenger in Winnetka, Illinois and defeated world no. 154 Sam Groth.
2016: Turned Pro, Grand Slam debut at the US Open
McDonald was awarded a wildcard into the main draw of the US Open, where he lost to Czech qualifier Jan Šátral in five sets in the first round. Beginning in late September and lasting through early October, McDonald had an impressive string of results in Challenger-level tournaments, winning his first ITF Pro Circuit title at USA F29 Irvine Futures, as well as reaching back-to-back semifinals in Tiburon and Stockton with impressive wins over three top-150 players.
2017: Oracle US Tennis Award
McDonald began the season winning the singles title at the F1 Los Angeles Pro Futures held at the University of Southern California, beating Carl Söderlund in the final by winning the last eleven games. In March at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, McDonald, along with former University of Virginia tennis player Danielle Collins, were selected to receive the Oracle US Tennis Awards, given to exceptional collegiate players transitioning to a professional. McDonald won the USA F12 Futures doubles event with Lloyd Glasspool, his fifth career Futures doubles title.
2018: Wimbledon fourth round, Top 100 debut
He participated in his first Australian Open in January where he defeated Elias Ymer in the first round after winning the qualifiers. In the next round, he was defeated by 3rd ranked Grigor Dimitrov in a 5 set thriller. Later, he won the Seoul Challenger against Jordan Thompson.