MALIBU, Calif. – California's Denise Starr won her singles opener in the second annual Oracle ITA Masters on Thursday, beating New Mexico State's Rimpledeep Kaur, 6-2, 6-1 in the round of 32 at Pepperdine.
 
"Denise did a good job," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said of her senior's singles victory. "We hadn't played this player before, so Denise had to figure out what she needed to do as the match went on. Denise served well today, really worked on her all-court game and got to the net as often as she could. That helped her close out the match in the second set. It was a good start to the tournament, and we're glad she could get this opportunity to be at this event."
 
Starr added, "I tried to stay aggressive and get a high serve percentage in to start each point off strong. I tried to move forward and finish points at the net. That worked well and was a big key in today's win."
 
The 62nd-ranked Golden Bear takes on a familiar face in Duke's seventh-seeded Meible Chi in the singles round of 16 on Friday at 11 a.m. at Pepperdine. Chi is the younger sister of former Cal All-American Lynn Chi, who completed her college career last season. Starr met Meible Chi on the latter's visits to see her sister in Berkeley.
 
Starr opened the Oracle ITA Masters on Thursday morning by teaming up with USC's Nick Crystal in mixed doubles. The Pac-12 Conference pair lost to Idaho State's Marianna Petrei and Portland State's Nathan Boneil, 6-3, in the round of 32.
 
Mixed doubles is a new addition to the tournament.
 
"It was a lot of fun," Starr said. "I don't play much mixed doubles. I wish the format was longer, but it was a really, really fun experience."
 
The tournament ends on Sunday.