Peter Wright completed a 29-year coaching career when California's Director of Men's Tennis
retired in August 2021.
He built an impressive résumé as the leader of the Golden Bears.
Previously the head coach of the Bears, Wright earned the title of Director of Men's Tennis after an anonymous gift endowed the head-coaching position in January of 2018.
A celebrated coach for his work both on and off the court and in the community, Wright earned the prestigious ITA Meritorious Service Award in 2017. The award is given annually in recognition of an ITA coach who has gone above and beyond in his or her commitment and contributions to the ITA and college tennis in general.
Wright received his first coaching award in 1994 when he was named Wilson/ITA Regional Coach of the Year for guiding the Bears back to postseason play. More recently, Wright was named the 2016 Pac-12 Coach of the Year after leading Cal to the NCAA semifinals and to its first appearance in the Conference championship match. Wright earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors in 1997 and 2001 and has helped the Bears become fixtures in NCAA postseason play since. Wright also claimed the 2012 USTA/ITA National Campus & Community Outreach Award, for providing a leadership role in increasing tennis participation throughout his community, both on and off campus, and earned induction into the USTA Northern California Hall of Fame and into the Berkeley High School Hall of Fame.
The ninth coach in the long history of Cal tennis, Wright compiled a 383-256 (.599 winning percentage) career record during his tenure in Berkeley and led Cal to the NCAA Championship tournament in 20 consecutive seasons before the pandemic caused the cancelation of the 2019-20 postseason.
The Bears posted a 5-3 record in a 2019-20 season cut short by COVID-19. Yuta Kikuchi won the singles title in Cal’s first event of the season – at the Audi Napa Valley Tennis Classic – in September and then clinched the Bears’ first dual-match of the season, a 4-0 win over Miami in January. Kikuchi finished as the singles runner-up in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in the fall to qualify for the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, in which Ben Draper and Bjorn Hoffmann also competed in doubles. Hoffmann and Draper reached the semifinals of the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships in March in what turned out to be the Bears’ last event of the season.
In 2018-19, Wright led the Golden Bears to an upset of No. 8 UCLA, 4-1, in the conference semifinals to claim a spot in the Pac-12 final. While the Bears fell to USC in the championship, their Pac-12 tournament success propelled them to a berth in the NCAA Championship. Cal beat Drake, 4-1, in the opening round of 64 before upsetting host and 15th-ranked Illinois, 4-1, in the round of 32. The Bears battled the second-ranked Texas Longhorns Austin in the NCAA third round before losing to the eventual national champions, 4-0. The Bears’ continued the season when Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Yuta Kikuchi and sophomore Jacob Brumm competed in the NCAA Doubles Championship, with Cal’s top duo advancing to the round of 16.
Kikuchi’s stellar freshman season also earned him an All-Pac-12 second-team berth and the ITA Northwest Region Rookie of the Year award. Along with Kikuchi’s ITA accolade, Cal associate head coach Tyler Browne claimed the ITA Northwest Assistant Coach of the Year honor.
The Bears also continued their tradition of excellence in the classroom under Wright during the 2018-19 season, with the men’s tennis program posting its ninth straight season with a perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of 1,000 – earning NCAA Public Recognition in the process – and compiling a 100-percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR). Five Bears – Can Kaya, Jack Molloy, Jacob Brumm, Ben Draper and Bjorn Hoffmann – earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors, and Hoffmann claimed ITA Scholar-Athlete status for the second time in his career.
The 2017-18 season also saw the Bears compete in the NCAA Championship, with 34th-ranked Cal upsetting 24th-ranked N.C. State, 4-1, in the first round in Austin, Texas. The Bears then ran into the host Longhorns in the second round, falling, 4-0. The season continued with the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, with Cal star Billy Griffith upsetting the No. 8 seed – Kentucky’s Ryotaro Matsumura – in his singles opener, 6-4, 6-3. But Griffith fell in the singles second round, and then he and fellow senior J.T. Nishimura concluded their careers as Bears with a loss in the doubles opener. Nishimura and Griffith were the last two remaining members of the 2015-16 Cal team that reached the NCAA semifinals.
A talented Cal squad posted a 20-8 record in the 2016-17 season, with the Bears forging their way to the NCAA Championship round of 16. Along the way, they knocked off No. 15 Stanford, 4-0, in the Big Slam to end the regular season, finished second in the highly contested Pac-12 Conference, and – with a 4-1 win over No. 9 Oklahoma – took third place in the BNP Paribas Collegiate Tennis Challenge presented by Oracle. In the fall, Cal star Andre Goransson captured the singles title of the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships held at Cal’s Hellman Tennis Complex, with the Bear defeating teammate and fellow senior Filip Bergevi in the final. Goransson and Florian Lakat competed in the NCAA Singles Championship, with Goransson earning one more victory in the first round before ending his stellar Cal career with a second-round loss. Lakat won twice in NCAA singles and – with Bergevi – posted a first-round win in the NCAA Doubles Championship, with Lakat and Bergevi/Lakat falling in the rounds of 16.
For his singles success, Lakat earned All-America status, and Bergevi and Lakat were named doubles All-Americans. Goransson and Lakat collected All-Pac-12 first-team accolades, with Bergevi and Billy Griffith earning second-team honors. Additionally, Bergevi and Bjorn Hoffmann were named ITA Scholar-Athletes for their work in the classroom.
Wright led 13th-ranked Cal to a 21-7 record that season and to within one match of the 2016 national championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The talented Bears included Florian Lakat, Filip Bergevi and Andre Goransson, who contributed plenty as Cal upset several higher-ranked teams to produce one of the Bears’ best seasons in recent history. Two of those upsets were against fourth-ranked TCU, with Goransson clinching a 4-3 win over the Horned Frogs in the NCAA round of 16. Lakat then clinched Cal’s 4-3 upset of fifth-ranked Ohio State in the NCAA quarterfinals. Cal lost to eventual champion Virginia in the semifinals, but Bergevi and Lakat played on, earning doubles All-America honors and advancing to the NCAA doubles quarterfinals before their season ended.
Bergevi and Lakat would continue their strong partnership in the 2016-17 season, when they captured the doubles title at the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships.
Wright’s 2015-16 Bears compiled a 21-7 overall record, including 5-2 mark in the Pac-12 that seeded them third for the Pac-12 Championship. Cal posted strong results at Pac-12 – a 4-0 over Washington in the first round and 4-1 over USC in the semifinals – to reach its first Pac-12 final. The Bears’ NCAA Championship campaign included a round of 16 upset of No. 4 TCU, 4-3, and a quarterfinal upset of No. 5 Ohio State, 4-3, that led to the semifinals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with Cal falling to eventual champion Virginia.
Equally lauded for their prowess in the classroom, two of Wright’s Bears – senior Mads Engsted and freshman Ryan Shen – earned ITA Scholar-Athlete status. Engsted also garnered a spot on the 2016 Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team.
In the 2014-15 season, Wright led his Bears to a 19-9 overall record, a 5-2 Pac-12 Conference record, fourth place in the Pac-12 and a run to the NCAA round of 32. The Bears reached the postseason for the 16th straight year and 34th overall time. The veteran coach picked up his 300th dual-match victory in Cal’s 7-0 rout of Nevada on March 25 in Berkeley.
Wright also helped to lead the campaign to renovate the Hellman Tennis Complex. The grand reopening of the home of Cal men’s and women’s tennis took place on Jan. 24, 2015, after Wright led his Bears past Mississippi State, 4-2, in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend finale in Berkeley to clinch a berth in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Wright led the 2013-14 squad to the NCAA round of 16. Along the way the Bears posted a huge upset of 10th-ranked/eighth-seeded Texas A&M on the Aggies’ home courts. Cal knocked off Texas A&M, 4-3, in the round of 32 in the heat and humidity of College Station, Texas. His Bears closed the regular season with a 4-3 Pac-12 record, a No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and an appearance in the Pac-12 semifinals, in which they lost to top-seeded USC. Wright also coached senior
Ben McLachlan to the NCAA singles quarterfinals and juniors
Gregory Bayane and
Chase Melton to the NCAA doubles quarterfinals, for which all three Bears claimed All-America honors.
Cal's 2012-13 season ended with a 16-10 overall record (5-1/third in the Pac-12 Conference) and a run to the NCAA Tournament's round of 16 for the seventh time under Wright. Juniors
Ben McLachlan and
Campbell Johnson both played in the NCAA singles tournament, while Johnson paired with senior Christoffer Konigsfeldt in the NCAA doubles field.
In the 2011-12 season, with a 14-12 overall record (4-3/fourth place in the Pac-12), the Bears made their 13th consecutive postseason appearance in the NCAA tournament and the 18th in 19 years under Wright's guidance. The Bears advanced to the round of 16. Konigsfeldt and senior Nick Andrews earned ITA All-America honors, while Andrews and sophomore
Ben McLachlan earned selection to the All-Pac-12 Second Team. Senior Carlos Cueto garnered All-Pac-12 honorable mention.
Wright's 2003 squad completed the season ranked fourth nationally, and boasted two ITA All-Americans and three all-conference selections. That team's 21-5 record is considered the school's all-time best record since joining the Pac-10. That year, the Bears finished in second place in conference play, which is California's best-ever showing in one of the toughest conferences in collegiate men's tennis. The 2002 season marked the first time that Cal enjoyed a series sweep of UCLA since 1953 and the first time that the Bears beat Stanford, UCLA and USC in the same season.
Under Wright, 16 Cal players have combined to receive 20 ITA All-America selections. Those 16 are Filip Bergevi, Florian Lakat, Ben McLachlan, Chase Melton, Gregory Bayane, Christoffer Konigsfeldt, Nick Andrews, Conor Niland, Balazs Veress, Patrick Briaud, Robert Kowalczyk, Steve Berke, John Paul Fruttero, Scott Kintz, Erik Dmytruk and Michael Hill.
Wright's tour highlights include appearances at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. He represented Ireland in Davis Cup from 1988-95 and served as Irish Davis Cup Captain from 1995-2003. Wright also served as the head coach for Ireland at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
He has served as Chairman of the NCAA Tennis Committee as well as on the Executive Board of Directors of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). He is currently on the USTA National Varsity Collegiate Tennis Committee and the ITA Operating Committee.
Wright's community involvement includes serving as vice-president and serving on the board of Youth Tennis Advantage (YTA), whose organizational mission is to inspire inner-city kids to achieve their full potential through tennis and academic programs. In 2001, he established the Bear Trax program at Cal, which brings YTA children from the East Bay to the Berkeley campus for academic tutoring with Cal students and tennis instruction with the Golden Bear men's and women's teams.
In his first years as head coach and in collaboration with Cal tennis alums Carl Chang and Tom Ross, Wright created the Chang Challenge, two televised matches in Harmon Gym between Michael Chang and John McEnroe. The proceeds from both exhibitions helped establish the Chang Family Tennis Scholarship endowment.
A Berkeley native, Wright attended Berkeley High School and earned a B.A. in Social Science from Cal. His wife, Fionnuala, is a former Irish national tennis champion and a former member of the Irish national basketball team. The Wrights currently reside in Berkeley.
