RENNES, France – California's Maegan Manasse and Amanda Augustus celebrated the United States fifth-straight championship at the Master'U BNP Paribas on Sunday at Tennis Club Saint-Grégoire. Manasse, the Golden Bear junior All-American, paired with Florida's Brooke Austin to win in doubles as the Americans defeated host France, 4-1, in the final.
This marks Manasse's first championship at the international tournament, while Augustus - Cal's ninth-year head coach - has now won Master'U BNP Paribas titles in each of her four years on the U.S. coaching staff.
Manasse and Austin defeated the French duo of Alice Bacquie and Clémence Fayol, 7-5, 6-1, in the final. In singles, Manasse fell to Victoria Larrier, 6-2, 6-2.
The United States – consisting of three women's college players and three men's college players – opened the tournament with a 7-0 quarterfinal rout of Great Britain on Dec. 4 and followed with a tight 4-3 victory over Germany in the semifinal round on Dec. 5. In the semis, Manasse topped Anna Fuchs, 6-4, 6-3, in singles. But Manasse and Austin lost to Germany's Stefanie Stemmer and Anna Klasen in doubles, 1-6, 7-5, 10-8.
Against Great Britain, Manasse defeated Emma Hurst, 6-2, 6-1, in singles. The Cal star then paired with Virginia's Danielle Collins in doubles to beat Olivia Nicholls and Olivia Smith, 8-6.
This has been a busy and successful year so far for the talented Manasse, who ended her sophomore season with singles and doubles All-America honors last May. The Redondo Beach, California, product began the year by competing in two prestigious tournaments in the second annual American Collegiate Invitational at the U.S. Open and the inaugural Oracle/ITA Masters. She then won the top-flight singles and – with Denise Starr – doubles titles at the Cal Nike Fall Invitational.
Manasse followed that by pairing with Starr to win a national championship in doubles at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships – at which Manasse also reached the singles semifinals – and by reaching the semis at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. At the latter tournament in New York, the well-mannered Manasse – who advanced to the singles round of 16 – also earned the NIIC's Sportsmanship Award.
Cal will continue the 2015-16 college season when it hosts Cal State Northridge, Saint Mary's and Washington for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend from Jan. 22-23 in Berkeley.