CALABASAS, Calif., — Former UCLA standout Mackenzie McDonald cruised past fellow American Henry Craig 6-4, 6-2 on Monday to earn one of the eight qualifying openings for the 2017 USTA Men’s Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas.

McDonald, a 21-year-old from Piedmont, Calif., turned professional after capturing the 2016 NCAA singles and doubles championships. McDonald was also one of five Americans to qualify Monday for the main draw at the $25,000 Futures event that begins with first-round matches on Tuesday at the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center.

Despite going through the qualifying, McDonald, by virtue of his ranking of No. 245, will be the No. 1 seed for the tournament.

Another former UCLA Bruin, Karue Sell of Brazil, and a current Bruin, Gage Brymer, also qualified for the main draw with victories on Monday. The other two Americans who played their way into the main draw were John Lamble and Mousheg Hovhannisyan.

Five singles matches are scheduled for Tuesday, the first day of play in the main draw. The highest seeded player to play is No. 4 seed Sebastian Fanselow of Germany, who takes on American Alexios Halebian. All 16 teams will compete in first-round doubles matches on Tuesday.

Monday’s Final-Round Singles Qualifying Scores
Mackenzie McDonald (USA) def. Henry Craig (USA) 6-4, 6-2.
Karue Sell (BRA) def. Ricardo Rodriguez (VEN) 6-3, 6-3.
Sergey Betov (BLR) def. Luis David Martinez (VEN) 6-3, 6-4.
John Lamble (USA) def. Michail Pervolarakis (CYP) 6-3, 6-2.
Gage Brymer (USA) def. Alastair Gray (GBR) 6-4, 6-4.
Mousheg Hovhannisyan (USA) def. Connor Farren (USA) 6-2, 6-4.
Farzin Danny Amiri (USA) def. Benjamin Hannestad (DEN) 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Samir Iftikhar (PAK) def. Jacob Brumm (USA) 6-2, 7-5.

On Thursday, March 23, there will be a sponsor-partner dinner reception from 7 to 10 p.m with raffle plus silent and live auctions.

Championship weekend begins on Friday, March 24, with quarterfinal matches. Friday’s busy slate begins with a Pro-Am drill from 9 to 11 a.m. and later that night a Community Tennis Appreciation Night. During the Friday evening session local USTA and WTT captains and other San Fernando Valley area tennis leaders will be recognized.

There will also be a VIP/Sponsor-Partner Reception, USTA League Player Challenge and Stadium Court Junior Exhibitions on Friday, March 24.

Saturday’s events include the semifinals along with a USTA Junior Team Tennis Kid’s Tennis Carnival from 10:30 a.m. to noon.