BERKELEY – Thirty-sixth-ranked California men's tennis looks to snap a two-match skid when it takes on No. 2 Stanford in the Big Slam on Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Golden Bears bring a 3-3 record (1-1 at home) into the nonconference dual match, and the Cardinal is 8-1.
 
This marks the first of two matches between the rivals this season, as they will play their Pac-12 Conference match on April 13 at Stanford.
 
Admission is free at Hellman. Fans can also follow the Hellman live streams by clicking here and can keep track of Cal's matches by following the updates on Twitter @calmenstennis. Be sure to also follow the Bears on Instagram @calmenstennis and on Facebook @calmenstennis.
 
The last time the Bay Area rivals met was in the regular-season finale last year, when now former Bear Florian Lakat clinched a 4-0 victory on Senior Day and Cal Day in front of the largest Hellman crowd (roughly 1,000 fans) in school history. The day featured a double Big Slam, as the Cal and Stanford women faced off before the men's match.
 
This Saturday's match will be the Cardinal's third at Hellman this year, though it's the first meeting between Cal and Stanford in 2017-18. In the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Berkeley in January, Stanford beat Oregon, 4-0, and then Tulane, 4-1, to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Conversely, Cal lost to Tulane, 4-3, and then defeated Oregon, 4-3, in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
 
Poll Position
In Tuesday's Oracle ITA rankings, Cal earned the No. 36 spot, while Stanford was ranked second. Cal is unranked in Wednesday's USTA College Top 25 poll, while the Cardinal is No. 4.
 
The Oracle ITA rankings also rank Cal senior Billy Griffith 79th in singles and the pair of Griffith and senior J.T. Nishimura 30th in doubles.
 
Stanford has five ranked singles players – No. 14 Tom Fawcett, No. 34 Axel Geller, No. 87 Jack Barber, No. 91 Sameer Kumar and No. 120 Eric Fomba – and two ranked doubles teams – No. 27 Fawcett/Geller and No. 36 Kumar/Michael Genender.
 
Last Time: Bears Drop Two In Midwest
Cal is coming off a rough trip to the Midwest, where the Bears lost to then-No. 10 Illinois, 4-0, on Feb. 9 and then-No. 13 Michigan, 4-1, on Feb. 11. Against the Wolverines, Cal won the doubles point, as the 54th-ranked pair of seniors Billy Griffith and J.T. Nishimura upset the ninth-ranked Alex Knight and Runhao Hua, 6-4, on court one to clinch the point. Earlier, Cal freshmen Ben Draper and Jack Molloy beat Connor Johnston and Myles Schlaet, 6-3, on court two.
 
Cal Earns Head Coaching Endowment
A new endowment announced Jan. 25 to fund the head-coaching position for men's tennis at Cal will be made possible by a $3 million anonymous gift. The position will be named for current Golden Bears boss Peter Wright after his retirement.
 
The men's tennis head coaching position funded by the endowment has been retitled Director of Men's Tennis, and upon Wright's retirement – nowhere in sight for the 54-year-old coach – the title will officially become the Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis.
 
Wright, who has served as Cal's head coach since 1993, is an ITA Regional Coach of the Year, recipient of the 2017 ITA Meritorious Service Award and three-time Conference Coach of the Year. He has taken his Golden Bear teams to the NCAA Tournament 23 times and seen his student-athletes earn 20 All-America selections along with numerous academic awards. A Berkeley native, Wright earned a B.A. in Social Science from Cal, where he played tennis as a four-year letter winner before competing as a professional player, Irish Davis Cup player and Davis Cup captain, and serving as the Irish Olympic tennis coach.
 
Next Time
Cal hits the road to play at San Diego State on March 1 and compete in the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships from March 1-4 in La Jolla, California.