BERKELEY – California Director of Men's Tennis Peter Wright announced the signing of Noah Gampel to a National Letter of Intent on Friday. The 6-0 right-hander has been ranked as high as the 49th-best national recruit – and 10th-best in California – by TennisRecruiting.net.
 
"We're excited to welcome Noah to the Cal tennis family," Wright said. "He's an outstanding tennis player who has shown tremendous resilience and grit in his comeback from a serious injury. Noah brings international experience from the juniors, and he's been working hard to develop his game for the collegiate level and beyond. With Noah, we know we have a young man who brings positive energy, enthusiasm and a thirst for improvement, and we look forward to his contributions to the team."
 
A back injury kept Gampel out of action for about a year when he was a sophomore at Oaks Christian School, but the Malibu, California, product – who turns 17 in December – has bounced back well.
 
Gampel, who holds a career-best ITF Junior combined ranking of 468, reached the fourth round of main draw singles and the third round of main draw doubles in the USTA Boys' 18 & 16 National Championships in August in Michigan.
 
Since nationals Gampel has competed in several Canadian tournaments. Highlights included reaching the singles final of a J5 tournament in Victoria, British Columbia, getting to the singles semifinals of a J4 tournament in North Vancouver, and advancing to another singles final, this time in a J4 event, in Burlington.
 
The current Bears will continue the 2019-20 season when they face Miami on Jan. 25 to start the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Stanford.