BERKELEY – The 15th-ranked California men's tennis team continues its early homestand at the Hellman Tennis Complex with two dual matches on Sunday, with the Golden Bears (2-2) hosting Sacramento State (1-2) at 10 a.m. and then playing San Francisco (2-3) at 2 p.m.
 
Admission is free to regular-season Cal tennis matches at Hellman. Fans can also follow the action via the Hellman live stream here and by following the team on Twitter @CalMensTennis.
 
Last Time: Cal Upsets UCLA, Falls To USC
Fifteenth-ranked Cal upset No. 10 UCLA, 4-2, its home opener on Jan. 31 at the Hellman Tennis Complex, with Ben Draper clinching the victory. The Cal junior beat the Bruins' Patrick Zahraj, 7-5, 6-3, at court-five singles to end that match. Draper also teamed with Bjorn Hoffmann to secure the doubles point with a 6-2 victory over Zahraj and Bryce Pereira. The next day, the Golden Bears fell, 4-1, to No. 3 USC at Hellman. Paul Barretto upset the Trojans' 26th-ranked Riley Smith, 6-4, 6-2, at court-three singles for the Bears.
 
Poll Position
In the most recent Oracle ITA individual rankings – from Nov. 13 – Cal had three Bears ranked in singles in No. 34 Yuta Kikuchi (11-8), No. 49 Jack Molloy (6-4) and No. 81 Bjorn Hoffmann (7-4). In doubles, the pair of Ben Draper and Bjorn Hoffmann (9-3) is ranked 22nd, and the duo of Kikuchi and Jacob Brumm (1-2) is ranked 54th. The next set of Oracle ITA team and individual rankings are scheduled to come out on Wednesday.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Yuta Kikichi, a singles finalist in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in the fall, clinched Cal's 4-0, dual-match opening win over Miami (Fla.), with the 2019 Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year beating the Hurricanes' Adria Soriano Barrera, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
• Cal's 28th-ranked doubles pair of Ben Draper and Bjorn Hoffmann – also a finalist at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships – has gone 3-1 to start the dual-match season
• The Bears had a 16-13 record (4-4 Pac-12) in the 2019 dual-match season, with the Bears advancing to the NCAA round of 16 after upsetting No. 15 Illinois, 4-1, in the round of 32
• Director of Men's Tennis Peter Wright is in his 27th year at the helm of his alma mater, with associate head coach and fellow Cal alumnus Tyler Browne in his 13th year on staff and Gunther Matta – another Cal men's tennis/Cal alumnus – on staff as a volunteer assistant coach

 Scouting The Hornets

• Sac State lost at Pepperdine, 7-0, beat Eastern Washington at home, 5-2, and lost at Saint Mary's, 6-1, so far this season
• Kevin Kurtz is in his fourth season as head coach of Sacramento State

 Scouting the Dons

• USF hosts UC Irvine on Friday before playing Cal on Sunday in Berkeley
• USF lost at Arizona, 6-1, on Jan. 31 and beat Grand Canyon, 5-2, on Feb. 1
• Pablo Pires de Almeida is in his ninth year as USF's head coach

Next Time
Cal closes out its early season five-match homestand at the Hellman Tennis Complex with a nonconference match against Nevada on Feb. 22 at 1 p.m.