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TENNIS

Who is Mackenzie McDonald, the American who beat Rafa Nadal?

The 27-year-old American, ranked 65th in the world, faced Rafa Nadal in the Australian Open and beat the Spanish star in three straight sets.

Update:
The 27-year-old American, ranked 65th in the world, faced Rafa Nadal in the Australian Open and beat the Spanish star in three straight sets.
LOREN ELLIOTTREUTERS

Drawing top-seed Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal to play against in the Australian Open must be daunting for any player. USA’s Mackenzie McDonald was the lucky one to do so this year, but the No. 65-ranked player gave Nadal a run for his money.

It is the second duel between the two, the first being Roland Garros in 2020, when Nadal beat McDonald, losing just four games. At that time, McDonald was ranked 211.

Now, McDonald has upset Nadal in a straight-set victory. Nadal was playing through some injuries, but was able to beat Jack Draper in four sets in the opening round. Unseeded McDonald defeated fellow American Brandon Nakashima in five sets in the first round. Now, McDonald advances to the third round in the biggest upset at the tournament.

Who is Mackenzie McDonald, the American who gave Nadal a run for his money?

Mackenzie McDonald is a 27-year-old American from Piedmont, California. He is of Chinese, Scottish, and English descent and many refer to him as Mackie. He started playing tennis with his father at just three years old and by the time he was 11, he was being trained by former No. 6 South African player Wayne Ferreira.

In 2014, McDonald played at the University of California in Los Angeles and went professional in 2016. He has had some ups and downs since then. His best moment (until now of course) came in 2018 when he played at Wimbledon and won the Round of 16, beating Ričardas Berankis, Nicolás Jarry, and Guido Pella. He lost to Milos Raonic. In 2019, McDonald had the biggest win of his career when he defeated No. 4 Juan Martín Del Porto to reach 1st ATP Tour SF at Delray Beach. After that, however, he had to have surgery for a thigh injury, delaying any progression in his career and falling out of the Top 250 by 2020.

By 2021 though, McDonald was back on the scene, reaching the fourth round in Melbourne after defeating Nick Kyrgios and Kei Nishikori, and then lost in Washington to Jannik Sinner. In 2022, he was dominated by young Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz in Cincinnati, but broke into the Top 50 in February of that same year, reaching a career-high No. 48 by August.

Now, older and wiser, unseeded McDonald has upset the top seed in tennis.