The wait is finally over for Mackenzie McDonald. The 22 year old claimed his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title on Sunday in Fairfield, U.S.A., ousting countryman Bradley Klahn 6-4, 6-2 in 63 minutes.

McDonald had previously never advanced to a Challenger final, but he would thrive at the Northbay Healthcare Men’s Pro Championships, dropping just one set en route to lifting his first trophy. The Northern California native provided a positive moment for the local community, which had been dealing with devastating wildfires throughout the week.

McDonald is the seventh different American winner this year, joining Frances Tiafoe, Tennys Sandgren, Ryan Harrison, Noah Rubin, Michael Mmoh and Kevin King.

.@mackiemacster has his first #ATPChallenger title, taking the ? in Fairfield with a 64 62 win over Bradley Klahn. 7th different ?? winner this year. pic.twitter.com/DJPlfPSpCv

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 16, 2017

Mackie, which was a bigger weight off your shoulders – finally getting past the semi-finals of a Challenger or lifting the trophy?
I’m pretty satisfied with both. I’d like to say the title, but I’ve been in a lot of semi-finals and it was nice to get past that stage.

You also got past Tennys Sandgren (in the second round), having been 0-5 against him. A lot of milestones for you this week. What is this moment like for you?
I’m pretty aware. These past few weeks have had some milestones for me. Taking out Darian King in Tiburon after facing him last year and then beating Sandgren here, I was very happy about that one. I just feel like I’ve been working really hard with my coach. We’ve worked on so many things with my game and mentally too, I came out very composed. That was the extra thing that I needed.

You had two really tough losses recently. Sandgren in Tiburon and having match points last week against Michael Mmoh. How did you mentally reframe this for yourself, coming into this week?
Those were very tough matches. I lost both in tie-breaks. I talked with my other coach, Wayne, and he told me to just keep plugging away. Just stay persistent and that’s what I did out here. That’s all I can do, taking it one match at a time. For me, I’m trying to just enjoy what I’m doing. The rest will come.

It seems like you’ve been more aggressive in getting to net and ending points faster. Is that the main technical thing you guys have been doing?
That’s definitely my go-to game style that I can execute. I like to come to the net and it’s about getting there. Stepping in for balls from the baseline and being aggressive. I feel consistent with it too and that’s the big thing for me. Always looking for those opportunities. Matt has a great eye for the game and he’s been helping me so much.

It’s hard to implement changes like that, where you’re trying to move forward while playing big matches. You’re going to have some days where you’re not good at it. You have to trust that process. How difficult has it been mentally the past couple of weeks with those losses?
I feel like I’ve been serving better, so that gives me more confidence where I don’t have to just rely on my game from the back of the court. I can, if I need it, but I do feel like I have some options on the court. Sometimes I need to grind and sometimes I need to be aggressive. Hopefully I’m serving well and most of the time I’m returning well. I just thought I put it all together this week.

In the final, Bradley struggled from the start, but you pushed the pressure. In the second set, it looked like you wanted to hit a return winner right away and make it known that you were going to stay aggressive. 
I wanted to stay aggressive and not just make balls. I stayed with that despite not serving well. I was a little nervous and I’m sure Brad was too. I was able to compose myself quicker and once I got my feet under me and started to feel the ball better, I cruised from there.

You had family and friends come out this week. What is it like to have people that support you here for your first title?
I’m pretty fortunate. I have a lot of great people behind me, in my corner. They definitely have my best interests and I’ve built a great team around me. I’m happy with that. They’re all looking out for me.

How do you celebrate?
With a flight to Vegas, which sounds exciting, but it’s actually for a tournament. I’m flying with a USTA trainer so hopefully we’ll get a good dinner if we don’t get in too late.

For Bradley Klahn, his comeback to tennis after years of injury has often felt like three steps forward and two-and-a-half steps back – at least until now. 

Klahn, a 27-year-old American who in 2014 reached a career-high of No. 63 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is once again making inroads following a career-threatening back injury that derailed much of the progress he had made years ago. 

Recent weeks have seen the former Stanford All-American reach back-to-back finals at ATP Challenger Tour events in Monterrey and Fairfield, the latter of which continued amidst the devastating wildfires in the California countryside. 

“It’s really tragic what’s happened with the fires. It kind of puts tennis in perspective a lot, just knowing people who are personally affected by the fires here,” said Klahn. “You can see the devastation with the smoke. Hats off to the tournament because I know this has to have been one of the most stressful weeks for them.”

Klahn’s contest versus fellow California native Mackenzie McDonald in the Fairfield Challenger final was a rare positive for Northern California tennis fans, who have been dealing with reduced air quality amidst the flames.

The match also represented another positive step for Klahn. Despite losing 6-4, 6-2 to McDonald, Klahn celebrated back-to-back finals for the first time since winning both the Maui Challenger and the West Lakes Challenger in early 2014.

So what finally clicked for Klahn?

“I think the biggest thing is that I’m digging out tough matches. I’m competing well, I’m staying positive with myself and I’m not really letting the ups and downs of the day get to me quite as much as I felt like I did when I first started back.

“This is the first time that I am really trusting [my body] and I’m not worrying about the little aches and pains that come with playing professional tennis,” he added. “For a while there it always felt like something was kind of nagging at me. Now, this is my 11^th match in two weeks – counting the doubles – and I feel good. Winning helps.” 

With former college rival Peter Lucassen joining Klahn’s team as a coach, the American feels that he’s back on track and is slowly transitioning his comeback into a career once more.

“I think he’s brought a fresh mindset,” said Klahn of Lucassen. “He’s also seen me throughout college – I played against him … so he knows my game, he knows what we’re working on; we’ve kept it simple.” 

Keeping things simple and trusting his body remains essential, according to Klahn, who despite his recent success isn’t getting too far ahead of himself. His efforts over the past fortnight will see him move back into the Top 250, allowing him entry into the more prolific events on ATP Challenger Tour.

“It’s been a great two weeks but it’s [only] two weeks in a year. It’s a long year, so now I feel like I’ve started to get in that rhythm and I’ve started to trust myself again.”

1) Rest is best for Roger
They don’t call Roger Federer the ‘Swiss Maestro’ for nothing. The 36 year old has played a masterful schedule in 2017, helping him rise back to the No. 2 spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings with an outside chance at challenging Rafael Nadal for the year-end top spot. While many may point out his on-court play, some of that success boils down to something simpler: rest.

After losing in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals, Federer took the rest of the year off to return to health, and that he did this season. The Swiss won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and this week captured his tour-leading third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy in Shanghai. The timing of those victories are not a coincidence, either.

Federer won in Melbourne after his long layoff. Then he played only one tournament in nearly two months before winning in Indian Wells and Miami. He captured Wimbledon and Halle after skipping the clay season entirely. Now, he won his second title in Shanghai after taking time off following the US Open. Only one other player in the Top 10 has played as few tournaments as he has this season (17) — Nadal. Yet, the two rivals top the rankings. 

2) Rafa still favorite to finish season at No. 1
Despite Nadal’s 16-match winning streak coming to an end against Federer in the Shanghai final, there is some good news for the Spaniard. The 31 year old is still in control of his own destiny in the battle for the year-end No. 1 Emirates ATP Ranking. While he could have gained a virtually insurmountable lead by beating the Swiss Sunday, Nadal still leads Federer by 1,960 points in the rankings.

Nadal has won six titles this season, the sixth time he has achieved the mark in his career. The left-hander won ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Monte Carlo and Madrid to tie Novak Djokovic’s record of 30, and also captured two Grand Slam crowns at Roland Garros and the US Open.

3) Delpo remains dangerous, destined for Top 10 in 2018?
When Juan Martin del Potro is on, he is one of the toughest players on the ATP World Tour to beat. And he proved it again in Shanghai, coming back to eliminate third seed Alexander Zverev in the Round of 16 before advancing to the semi-finals, where he pushed Federer to three sets.

With a full schedule in the plans next year, del Potro may very well be destined to return to the Top 10 for the first time since 28 July 2014. The Argentine is projected to move up to No. 18 after his performance in Shanghai, and if he defends the 340 points he earned late last season, he will have a big opportunity to move up more early in 2018, as he missed this year’s Australian Open and did not play until the Delray Beach Open.

4) Dimitrov continues to impress, nearing London bid
The Bulgarian has never played in the Nitto ATP Finals. But as arguably his best season nears its zenith, he is closing in on qualifying for the year-end event for the first time.

Dimitrov sits in the No. 6 spot in the Emirates ATP Race To London, and is second in line to book his spot at The O2. David Goffin, next in line to qualify, is 705 points behind Dimitrov.

In Shanghai, Dimitrov showed plenty of resilience before exhibiting the skills that helped him return to the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 26 year old saved three match points in a third-set tie-break victory over Ryan Harrison in his opener before ousting in-form World No. 17 Sam Querrey in straight sets. After pushing Nadal to five sets in Melbourne at the start of the year, he once again tested the Spaniard in China, losing in the quarter-finals in a two-hour, 32-minute three-setter.

5) Top two doubles pairs a step above
Top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers defeated second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, 6-4, 6-2, to capture their first Shanghai title and earn their third win in four tries against the Polish-Brazilian team this season. That moved the Finnish-Australian combination to within 360 points of Kubot/Melo in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London.

The top four doubles seeds advanced to the Shanghai semi-finals, but it was once again apparent that Kontinen/Peers and Kubot/Melo are a step above their nearest competition. The third team in the London standings, Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, are at 4,980 points, which is 2,170 points behind the second-placed Kontinen/Peers.

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN MOSCOW 

1. 250 Finales: The last of 40 ATP World Tour 250 events take place this week in Moscow, Antwerp and Stockholm. Seven Russians are in the VTB Kremlin Cup field, including Next Gen ATP Finals contenders Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev. A Russian man hasn’t won Moscow since 2009.

2. Birthday Boy: Rublev, who turns 20 on Friday, is playing in his hometown for the fifth straight year (0-2 main draw, 0-2 qualifying). He teamed with Dmitry Tursunov for the 2015 Moscow doubles title. The No. 5 seed was outside the Top 100 as recently as June 25. After winning his first singles title at Umag and reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final at the US Open, Rublev rose to No. 35. 

3. Rising Russians: While Rublev has achieved a new career-high ranking 12 times this season, fellow Moscow native Medvedev has done so seven times in 2017. However, the 21-year-old is on an eight-match losing streak since defeating Grigor Dimitrov at Washington on August 3.

4. Others to Watch: Among the other Russians in the field are Evgeny Donskoy and Roman Safiullin. Donskoy, 27, saved three match points to hand Roger Federer his first loss of the season at Dubai. Safiullin, 20, is making his ATP World Tour debut in Moscow on Monday.

5. Spanish Seeds: Defending champion Pablo Carreno Busta and fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas are the Top 2 seeds at the VTB Kremlin Cup. Carreno Busta leads Sam Querrey by 90 points in the Emirates ATP Race to London as they battle for the last spot at the Nitto ATP Finals.

6. Career Year: No. 3 seed Adrian Mannarino has matched a career-best by winning 28 matches this season. Twenty of Mannarino’s victories have come since June 26, including the biggest of his career over No. 5 Marin Cilic in the Tokyo semi-finals. The Frenchman is still seeking his first title.

7. 30-Win Club: No. 4 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber is one victory away from his 11th straight 30-win season. Only Rafael Nadal (14), Tomas Berdych (13) and Novak Djokovic (12) have longer active streaks. Kohlschreiber has not played since September 18 at St. Petersburg due to a virus. 

8. What a Run: No. 6 seed Damir Dzumhur went 18-3 from July 31 to September 29, culminating in a win over World No. 4 Alexander Zverev at Shenzhen. Dzumhur reached his first final at Winston-Salem and captured his first title at St. Petersburg to break into the Top 40 on September 25.

9. ATP’s Iron Man: No player in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings has played more tournaments in 2017 than No. 7 seed Paolo Lorenzi. The VTB Kremlin Cup marks Lorenzi’s 32nd tournament of the season, including two Challenger events and excluding two Davis Cup ties. Lorenzi, who celebrates his 36th birthday on December 15, is the fifth-oldest player in the Top 100.

10. Moscow Max: Max Mirnyi earned his first of 751 doubles wins at 1996 Moscow. The 40-year-old Belarusian played in Moscow each year from 1995-2006, winning one of his four VTB Kremlin Cup doubles titles with Federer in 2002. Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald are the No. 1 seeds this week.

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN ANTWERP

1. Belgian Homecoming: The European Open boasts David Goffin, Steve Darcis and Ruben Bemelmans, who led Belgium to its second Davis Cup final in three years (Belgium at France November 24-26).

2. Banner Year: Goffin, who was the top seed at the inaugural European Open in 2016, returns as the No. 1 seed. After 24 weeks ranked No. 11, the Belgian broke into the Top 10 on February 20, beat then-No. 2 Novak Djokovic at Monte-Carlo for the biggest win of his career on April 21, and snapped a six-final losing streak with titles at Shenzhen on October 1 and Tokyo on October 8.

3. Darcis Delivers: Like his countryman Goffin, Darcis earned four Davis Cup victories this season and a career-high in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 33-year-old debuted in the Top 40 on May 22 more than nine years after cracking the Top 50. Darcis has reached four quarter-finals in 2017. 

4. Belgian Pride: Bemelmans has represented Belgium in 18 straight Davis Cup ties since 2010, squaring off with the likes of Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Lleyton Hewitt. This season, the 29-year-old left-hander qualified at Wimbledon for the fourth time and captured his fifth Challenger title.

5. French Resistance: Three Frenchmen are in the field prior to the end of qualifying, led by No. 2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The French No. 1 accepted the European Open’s final wild card on Friday. Tsonga returns after missing the ATP’s three-week swing in China with a knee injury. 

6. Highs and Lows: No. 3 seed Nick Kyrgios is back in Belgium after defeating Darcis and losing to Goffin at the Davis Cup semi-finals last month in Brussels. Over his past four tournaments, Kyrgios reached finals at Cincinnati and Beijing but lost in the first round at the US Open and Shanghai.

7. Most Improved: No. 4 seed Diego Schwartzman entered 2017 with 31 wins. The 2016 Antwerp finalist has 33 this season alone, including Top 10 wins over Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic. At the US Open, the 5-foot-7 Argentine became the shortest Grand Slam quarter-finalist in 23 years.

8. Ferrer Returns: No. 5 seed David Ferrer has not played since the US Open due to a right foot injury. The Spaniard won only three matches through the first four months of 2017. Ferrer found his form from there, claiming his 27th title at Bastad and earning 20+ victories for the 15th straight year. 

9. Race to Milan: Six spots at the Next Gen ATP Finals are on the line with two weeks left in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan. Young Americans Jared Donaldson, Frances Tiafoe and Ernesto Escobedo are in Antwerp. Escobedo opens against 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

10. Doubles Legends: The winningest doubles players of all time are in Antwerp: Daniel Nestor (1,056 victories), Bob Bryan (1,052) and Mike Bryan (1,038). The Bryans qualified for their 15th straight Nitto ATP Finals last week. Nestor is teaming at the European Open with Dominic Inglot.

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN STOCKHOLM

1. Stellar Seeds: At the Intrum Stockholm Open, Top 4 seeds Grigor Dimitrov, Kevin Anderson, Jack Sock and Juan Martin del Potro will battle in the Emirates ATP Race to London.

2. Back for More: Dimitrov makes his fifth consecutive and seventh overall appearance in Stockholm, where he won his first ATP title in 2013 and fell to the eventual champion in 2014-16. The Bulgarian captured the biggest of his seven career titles at ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati on August 20. 

3. Comeback Kev: Since the start of 2016, Anderson has endured injuries to his ankle, elbow, groin, hip, knee and shoulder. He fell to No. 80 on January 16, 2017 and was No. 32 when he became the lowest-ranked US Open finalist in history. Anderson returned to the Top 15 on September 11.

4. Sock’s Off: Sock started the season 11-1 and was the first player on tour to earn 20 victories in 2017. But the 2015 and 2016 Stockholm finalist is 8-11 since peaking at No. 14 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on April 17. Sock returns to Stockholm on a career-long five-match losing streak.

5. Del Po’s Difficult Draws: Del Potro, the defending Stockholm champion, returns as the No. 4 seed and seeks his first final of 2017. The Argentine has endured difficult draws throughout the year, falling to a Top 10 player at 10 of his 15 events. Del Potro made major strides against the Top 10 at the US Open, upsetting No. 8 Dominic Thiem and No. 3 Roger Federer en route to semi-finals.

6. Career Year: Wild card and No. 5 seed Mischa Zverev is enjoying a career year. The elder Zverev brother reached the third round at Wimbledon, fourth round at the US Open and quarter-finals at the Australian Open, where he upset then-No. 1 Andy Murray. He cracked the Top 25 on July 24.

7. Closing in on Milan: With two weeks remaining in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan, 21-year-old Hyeon Chung leads Daniil Medvedev by three points for the last of seven spots at the Next Gen ATP Finals. Chung is in Stockholm and Medvedev is in Moscow seeking valuable points this week.

8. Long Time Coming: Former World No. 8 Marcos Baghdatis has not won an ATP title since the second week of the 2010 season at Sydney. Baghdatis has lost six finals since then, but Stockholm was the scene of one of his four titles. The Cypriot did not drop a set en route to the 2009 title.

9. Brotherly Love: Swedes Elias and Mikael Ymer received singles and doubles wild cards. They saved four match points en route to the 2016 Stockholm doubles title. Elias, 21, is 0-2 in singles at Stockholm. Mikael, 19, defeated Fernando Verdasco for his first ATP win at 2016 Stockholm.

10. Reunited: The Ymers are joined in the doubles draw by No. 2 seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer and No. 4 seeds Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares. From July 2012 to November 2015, Peya played all but five tournaments with Soares, winning 12 titles as a team. Qureshi played all but two tournaments with Rojer in 2012-13, capturing the 2013 Stockholm title.

When it comes to playing Rafael Nadal, things haven’t always been easy for Roger Federer.

Although their 38^th meeting ended in a 6-4, 6-3 win, his fifth in a row against his Spanish southpaw rival, Federer still trails Nadal 15 to 23 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head. The Nadal playbook has always been simple, but historically effective against Federer: use heavy topspin forehands to pound away at the weaker Federer one-handed backhand and attack the open court at the first opportunity. 

But in 2017, the Swiss has managed to flip the script.

“I think I’m maybe serving consistently better. I get easier power ever since I switched to the bigger racquet, the RF97. I feel I’m connecting better on the backhand and I’m serving good, and that consistently,” said Federer, who at one point in Sunday’s final won a service game in 52 seconds with four straight aces.

“Before I had to slice more just because the racquet was good for the slice, and it was good for the coming over, but I would always shank too many balls,” he added.

Aggressive backhand play has been a characteristic of the 36 year old’s renaissance this season, allowing him yet another dimension in his fluid, attacking style of tennis. Although his one-hander hasn’t always been a weapon, 11 of Federer’s 28 winners in the Shanghai final came off that wing.

“I think it was hard for me to consistently just keep on attacking with the backhand,” Federer said. “Today it seems almost not a problem anymore to do it.” 

In what has been one of tennis’s most storied rivalries, Nadal has often come out on top, particularly on his beloved clay courts, upon which he owns a 13-2 record against the Swiss legend – Federer admits that those matches took their toll on him in previous seasons.

“I just think I’m not so scarred like maybe I have been in the past, not that I was horribly scarred in any way, but I did lose against him sometimes, a lot of the times especially on the clay courts. I do believe I still lost that Wimbledon final in ’08 because of the French Open beatdown he gave me. It just affected my first two sets when I played him at Wimbledon.

“But, yeah, I think I have also played him well. Clearly avoiding him – not playing him on clay has helped,” added Federer. “So I’m able to stay on the hard courts or on faster courts against him, but I have been playing very well when I have faced off against him.” 

Federer’s Shanghai crown this week keeps him in contention for the year-end No.1 spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings, which would have been all but sealed for Nadal had he emerged victorious in the final. With strong results at the upcoming tournaments in Basel and Paris, Federer has the opportunity to set up a dramatic climax to the season: a fight for No.1 at the Nitto ATP Finals for the second straight year (Murray d. Djokovic in 2016 to claim the top spot.) 

Despite closing the gap with Nadal on both the No.1 ranking and in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series this season, Federer insists that they aren’t targets for him – especially in the latter metric, where the Spaniard still leads by eight wins. 

“It’s not going to happen,” said Federer bluntly on overtaking Nadal in their rivalry. “We don’t have enough years left on the tour, and we’re ranked too good that we play each other only in finals at the moment. It looks like that’s going to stay like this for a few months more. So can’t win them all against Rafa, to be honest. He’s too good of a player.

“I’m just excited I’m on a good stretch right now. Head-to-heads? Yeah, sure, I would like it to be different, but I have utmost respect for Rafa. It’s been a tough matchup for me, and I tried my best. I have played him a lot on clay in the beginning of my career. No problem. I tried. I was close on many occasions, but he’s better on clay. I try to win the other ones that I can, and this year has been great so I’m happy about it.”

Rafael Nadal lost an opportunity to earn his first Shanghai Rolex Masters title on Sunday against Roger Federer and a chance to extend his 16-match winning streak. But after capturing titles at the US Open and last week’s China Open, the Spaniard was not devastated.

“I played a fantastic tournament, having very good wins. Very pleased the way I played the whole Asian tour for me, whole China tour. Beijing, Shanghai have been a very positive two weeks for me,” Nadal said. “A lot of points, a lot of victories against great opponents. I come back with very good personal satisfaction the way that I played.”

Nadal earned his 11th and 12th victories of the season against the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings this week in Shanghai, beating No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals before ousting No. 5 Marin Cilic in the semis. But sometimes an opponent simply plays too well on a given day. And while Nadal was disappointed to lose his third final of the year against Federer, all he could do is give his rival his due.

“When somebody plays better than you, sport is not very difficult,” Nadal said. “When you play against somebody that is better than you in most of the things that really matters on this sport in this kind of surface, then it’s tougher. There is room to improve for me, and I’m going to try. But the conditions here were much better for him than for me, being honest.”

Federer broke in the first game of the match and never looked back, going through the 71-minute clash without facing break point himself. The Swiss dropped just eight points on serve.

“He played so well, I think,” Nadal admitted. “Yeah, I could do maybe some things better, but that’s it. Just he played too good. That’s my point of view. So congrats to him.”

The loss does not take away from what has been a resurgent 2017 for Nadal, winning two Grand Slams, two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, six titles overall and reclaiming the top spot in the rankings as he seeks to finish atop the standings for the first time since 2013, and the fourth time in his career. The 31 year old still leads Federer by 1,960 points in the rankings.

Nadal was unable to win for the first time in Shanghai, but it was not for lack of effort.

“I just play every tournament with as high motivation as possible. Would not be fair I play here with higher motivation than in Monte-Carlo because I didn’t win here and I won in Monte-Carlo 10 times,” Nadal said. “Every time I go on court I try my best. I try to play as good as I can. Sometimes I play better; sometimes I play worse. That’s all. Shanghai is an important event. I always put attention in this event. It’s true that I was not able to play as good as I would like here that often, but I already play two finals, couple of semi-finals. So was not a bad event.”

Despite Sunday’s loss, Nadal has proven he is in good form and will look to take that into the final month of the season to finish 2017 on a high note.