Cal Starts New Season at Battle in the Bay

MTEN9/15/2015 11:54 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal Starts New Season at Battle in the Bay

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BERKELEY ? The California men's tennis program begins the new year this week at the seventh annual Battle in the Bay Classic in San Francisco. The Golden Bears ? coming off a 19-9 season ? take part in the tournament ? hosted by the University of San Francisco ? from Thursday through Sunday at the California Tennis Club.

The Battle in the Bay Classic ? which this year features a women's field that includes the Cal women's team ?is free to public. Please visit the tournament's USF webpage?for more information.

Poll Position

On Tuesday, the ITA announced it preseason singles and doubles polls, with three Bears earning singles rankings and two Cal pairs claiming doubles rankings. Junior Andre Goransson is the highest ranked Bear in singles at No. 22, junior and Mississippi State transfer Florian Lakat is at No. 36 and junior Filip Bergevi is ranked 64th. In doubles, the duo of Goransson and Lakat is ranked 25th, while the pair of Bergevi and senior Oskar Wikberg is tied at No. 56.

The first ITA team poll ? and next individual rankings ? of the season will come out on Jan. 5, 2016.

ITA Announces All-American Selections

Also on Tuesday, the ITA announced the draws for the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships, with the qualifying draws running Oct. 5-7 and the main draws scheduled for Oct. 8-12 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Goransson and Lakat garnered spots in main draw singles, with Bergevi in qualifying singles. The duo of Lakat and Goransson is on the alternate list in doubles and is also slated to play in qualifying doubles along with the team of senior Mads Engsted and sophomore J.T. Nishimura and the pair of Wikberg and Bergevi.

Scouting the Bears

  • Cal reached the postseason for the 16th-consecutive season under head coach Peter Wright in 2014-15, ending the year in the NCAA team tournament's round of 32; Goransson, then a sophomore, competed in NCAA singles, falling in the round of 64; equally as talented in the classroom, the Cal squad collected 2015 ITA All-Academic status
  • Goransson posted a singles record of 26-11, including 14-5 at No. 1 singles, and finished last season with a final ITA ranking of 41st
  • A product of Hollviken, Sweden, Goransson earned a spot on the 2015 All-Pac-12 First Team, recognition as the 2015 ITA Northwest Regional Player to Watch and garnered Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention
  • Bergevi, who was 15-13 in singles and 11-6 at No. 2 singles last year, picked up a final ranking of 105th and was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention
  • Lakat finished last season at No. 65 in singles; he was ranked as high as 36th in 2014-15
  • In two years as a Bulldog, Lakat compiled a singles record of 39-26 and a doubles mark of 38-28; he was an All-SEC First-Team pick as a sophomore and a conference honorable mention as a freshman
  • In his first season as a Bear after transferring from Wisconsin, Wikberg posted a 25-12 singles record, including 9-4 at No. 4 singles, earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention and claimed a spot on the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team in 2014-15
  • Wikberg also paired with former high school teammate Goransson to post a 17-9 doubles record and earn a final ranking of 83rd
  • Now a senior, Mads Engsted collected a 21-5 singles record, including 6-3 mark at No. 6 singles, as well as Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention as a junior
  • In their first collegiate seasons in 2014-15, Billy Griffith posted a 17-11 singles record and J.T. Nishimura notched a 17-13 singles mark in 2014-15
  • Cal has three seniors ? Engsted, Wyatt Houghton and Jordan Smith ? and two freshmen ? Gunther Matta and Ryan Shen
  • Two proud Cal alumni lead the Golden Bears: Peter Wright (class of '91) is in his 23rd year as head coach, while associate head coach Tyler Browne (class of 2008) is in his eighth year on the staff
  • Over the summer, Wright ? who has produced a 307-214 dual-match record at Cal ? earned another laurel for his distinguished career when he was inducted into the USTA Northern California Hall of Fame

At Last Year's Battle in the Bay

Andre Goransson?fell in the Oct. 12 singles final at the 2014 Battle in the Bay Classic, but the Golden Bears walked away from the California Tennis Club with a title as senior?Gregory Bayane?captured the consolation singles crown.

Goransson, seeded third, dropped a three-setter against USC's Nick Crystal in the main draw final, falling 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. In the consolation final, Bayane defeated UCLA's Austin Rapp, 1-6, 6-4, 1-0(7).

Next Time

Cal hosts the USTA Junior National Team in an exhibition on Sept. 23 at 2 p.m. at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

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