American Mackenzie McDonald has been named the ATP Comeback Player of the Year, following a season in which he fought back from hamstring surgery to reach new heights.
The 26-year old was nominated against other ATP players who had taken time off to due surgery or nagging injuries, with the likes of former World No.1 Andy Murray also competing for this award. However, it was the American who garnered enough votes to clinch the annual year-end award.
McDonald underwent right hamstring surgery in June 2019, and began the year ranked at World No.194. However, he showed good results during the season, including a fourth round appearance at the Australian Open, and a runner-up finish in Washington (l. to Sinner).
“I feel like it was a great end of 2021 for me, having that be my start for 2022. Now I feel like I’m back,” McDonald, who reached World No. 54 in November, said. “I really feel like I’ve come back, so now I can do some damage this next year. That’s what I want to do, capitalize even more. I want to accomplish a lot for next year as well."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.