BERKELEY – California men's tennis competes in the annual BNP Paribas Collegiate Tennis Challenge presented by Oracle this week, with the 39th-ranked and third-seeded Golden Bears (5-4) opening against Purdue (7-6) on Friday at 2 p.m. in Indian Wells, California. Played in conjunction with the BNP Paribas Open professional tournament, the college tournament starts Friday and, as with the pro tournament, ends Sunday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Live scores are available by clicking here.
 
The tournament's initial field includes eight teams – No. 39 Cal, No. 26 Arizona State, No. 29 Baylor, BYU, Purdue, SMU, South Florida and Tulsa – with No. 43 LMU replacing BYU on Sunday.
 
Last season, Cal defeated Oklahoma, 4-1, to take third place in Indian Wells.
 
For more information, please visit the tournament website by clicking here.
 
Poll Position
Cal is ranked 39th in Tuesday's Oracle ITA team rankings but was unranked in last week's USTA College Top 25 Poll. The USTA releases its new poll on Wednesday. In last week's Oracle ITA individual rankings, Cal senior Billy Griffith (11-8) was 52nd in singles, and the pair of Griffith and senior J.T. Nishimura (17-6) was 32nd in doubles.

Purdue's Gergely Madarasz is ranked 67th in singles, and the pair of Madarasz and Athell Bennett is ranked 39th in doubles.
 
Last Time: Bears Win Pac-12 Opener At Arizona
California opened Pac-12 Conference play 1-0 as J.T. Nishimura clinched No. 49 California's 4-1 win at Arizona on March 11 at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson, Arizona. The Golden Bear defeated Trent Botha, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, to clinch. Earlier he teamed with fellow senior Billy Griffith to beat Igor Karpovets/Carlos Hassey, 6-3, on court one to claim the doubles point.
 
The Bears' scheduled match at Arizona State on March 10 was rained out.
 
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 returns to Pac-12 play when it heads to Los Angeles to take on USC on March 30 and UCLA on March 31.