Who Is Mackenzie McDonald’s Coach In 2023?

Last Updated on January 23, 2023

A collegiate star at UCLA, one of only five players of the University that managed to win both singles and doubles NCAA title in same year is an American tennis player of mixed ancestry, Mackenzie McDonald.

Mackenzie “Mackie” McDonald was born on 16th April 1995 in Piedmont, California in a family of Michael and Vivian McDonald. His father is of English and Scottish heritage and works as an oral surgeon, while his mother is an artist and photographer who ones her own studio and is of Chinese descent.

He has one sister, Dana Jones. Mackie started playing tennis at age of three when his dad put him in lessons at The Harbor Bay Club in Northern California and later at Claremont Club & Spa, working with a notable local coach, Rosie Bareis.

“I was super young. That’s some of the stuff that people don’t really see or know about. I was so small at that time that Baries would sit on a milk carton, I was just swinging the racquet and she was sitting there dropping balls.” said Mackie in an interview.

As Mackie’s tennis progressed, from age of eleven, he also practiced extensively with former top trainer Wayne Ferreira. After finishing High School, following in his father’s footsteps, he went to UCLA where he played for the college tennis team, famous Bruins.

His favorite shot is forehand, he likes to play on hard court especially at US Open. Besides playing tennis, he is a big fan of basketball and is big supporter of Golden State Warriors. He idolizes two sports icons, Roger Federer and Kobe Bryant.

Who Is Mackenzie McDonald’s Current Coach?

Robby Ginepri

For last couple of years Mackie is under mentorship of former USA tennis player Robby Ginepri.

Robby Ginepri was born on 7th October 1982 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His father Rene who was born in Luxembourg is a systems analyst and his mother Nancy is a school teacher. Robby has an older sister, Jenni. He was multi-sport athlete and devoted to tennis at age of twelve.

He attended Joseph Wheeler High School in Georgia and after graduation in 2001 he turned to pro tennis for the next fourteen years until his retirement at the end of 2015. During his career he won three ATP titles, five Challengers and two Futures. His best ranking was World No.15 in 2005.

He is known for becoming first player to compete at Wimbledon with a sleeveless shirt on June 23, 2003. In 2004, Robby purchased the Olde Towne Athletic Club in East Cobb, Georgia, where after retirement he founded a junior tennis Ginepri Performance Academy.

“Tennis has just been part of my life, why not stay involved and help some of the younger guys come up and see where that goes” said Ginepri.

As for his collaboration with Mackenzie, in Covid season 2020 he returned after suffered a hamstring injury that put him seven months on the sidelines, but was out of form. Mackie had a surging start to his 2021 season: he matched his career-best performance at a Grand Slam at Australian Open and in February he captured his third career ATP Challenger title at Nur-Sultan Open in Kazakhstan.

Later he made through his first ATP final at Washington Open, but eventually lost to Jannik Sinner in three sets. During 2022 season he won his first ATP title ever, playing in doubles alongside Marcelo Melo at Japan Open.

He made top 50 debut, reaching his highest ranking of World No.48. Mackie has excellent start of this season also and achieved perhaps the biggest victory in his career so far, by defeating Rafael Nadal in the second round of Australian Open in straight sets.

Former Mackenzie Mcdonald’s Coaches

Mat Cloer

After leaving UCLA and turning pro, Mackie was coached by another American, Mat Cloer.

Mat Cloer was born on 9th February 1984 in Lenoir, North Carolina. As a player, Cloer earned many accolades and was one of the best collegiate tennis players to attend Florida State, becoming the first player in FSU’s history to earn All-American status. A two-time ACC Player of the Year, Cloer was the recipient of the esteemed ITA National Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award the same year.

He received a Bachelor of Education in Sport Management in 2006 from Florida State and start volunteering as assistant coach for his college tennis team. Mat spent four years as assistant head coach at Florida State, then in April 2017 was named a National Coach with USTA Player Development where he started working with Mackie.

During their collaboration Mcdonald won five titles, three at Challengers and two at Futures tournaments. At 2017 Indian Wells he was selected to receive the Oracle US Tennis Awards, given to exceptional collegiate players transitioning to a professional.

Next season at Wimbledon, he reached the second week of a grand slam for the first time in his career and entered top 100 players in the World.

In his more than fifteen years of coaching experience, Mat served as the supplemental lead and helped with road support for tennis players Chris Eubanks, Kevin King and Sekou Bangoura and also provided coaching support for top women tennis players such as Whitney Osuigwe, Usue Arconada, Ashlyn Krueger and Katrina Scott and Danielle Collins. Since May 2022 he works as associated head coach at University of Florida.

Billy Martin

Billy Martin was born on 25th December 1956 in Evanston, Illinois. During his career, he won the NCAA Singles Title in 1975 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32.

While he was studying at UCLA, Mackie was coached by former tennis player Billy Martin.

He also won one singles title and three doubles titles on the Pro Tour. As a player he is best known for his long-shot run at 1977 Wimbledon where he eliminated Guillermo Vilas (who won Rolland Garros and US Open that year) in straight sets.

Under his mentorship, Mackie won six titles at Challengers and Futures, but despite those titles, maybe the dearest that they have won together are NCAA Division I Tennis Championships in both singles and doubles.

“I’ve known Mackie since he was seven. My youngest son and him had to play each other in a small tournament in San Diego and became best friends and roomed together, so he has a special spot in my heart.” said Martin for his favorite trainee.

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Mackenzie McDonald’s Achievements With Different Coaches

We have collected in the table the data about the trophies won by Mackenzie McDonald under the guidance of various coaches.