McDonald’s Chinese connection set to prove a hit again at Hong Kong Tennis Open – South China Morning Post

Mackenzie McDonald, who will feature in the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open when it begins this month, has a fascination for puzzles. The more difficult the design, the more he loves it.

Among the features at his home in Orlando, Florida is a replica of the Eiffel Tower that stands at around six feet tall, which was a puzzle that he had worked on for several weeks.

The challenge as he headed towards the coming new year was to build a pinball machine, which he was racing to complete before he needed to return to the tennis court to begin preparing in earnest for what will be his first trip to Hong Kong, at the end of this month.

“It is a functional, wooden pinball machine,” McDonald said of his creation. “It’s kind of like a Lego [model], but it’s got way more mechanical things involved with it, so I’m going pretty slow with it.”

The task would seem to be a fitting challenge for the American, given the pinball time he experienced during the 2023 season.

The 28-year-old started his year in Adelaide and finished it in Paris. In all, he played in 14 countries. His committed, globe-trotting efforts paid off as he managed a career-best season, which saw him break into the world’s men’s singles top 40 and reach the last eight of a Masters tournament for the first time.

Despite having dropped back slightly to No 41 in the world, McDonald is pleased with the ground he has made in the past 12 months, but he admitted that he had also learned a considerable amount about how to best manage a gruelling schedule.

“I learned a lot about the tour and about mapping out how I can manage my weeks and time better,” he said.

For the time being, he is steadily increasing the amount of hours he spends on the court during the lead-up to the Hong Kong event as it makes its long-awaited return to the top-tier ATP Tour circuit.

He now has plenty of good hitting partners near his base in Florida, with compatriots including the world No 34 Chris Eubanks – who is also playing in the Hong Kong tournament – living not far from his home.

“I’m very eager to do my best, but how to maximise your time and not burn yourself out is something I’m going to try to do better next year.”

Hailing from Piedmont, neighbouring Oakland in California, his mother is Chinese, adding to his excitement to open the 2024 season in Hong Kong.

“I feel really comfortable playing in Asia,” he said. “I love the food, the people, the great hotels and how they treat everyone, so I’m super-excited.

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“Asian fans love tennis and when fans in Asia love something, they’re not afraid to show it. I’m used to that energy, that atmosphere a little bit, having grown up in the Bay Area, so going there, I thought it was really cool.”

Due in part to his family heritage, the right-hander proved a crowd favourite when he was in China for the Zhuhai Championships in September, with fans in the southern city close to Hong Kong proving keen to seek him out for his autograph and to pose for photographs.

It should be the same for the pinball wizard under the bright lights in Hong Kong.