BERKELEY – The 29th-ranked California men's tennis team heads to The Farm to battle No. 20 Stanford in the Big Slam on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. PDT. In the penultimate weekend of the regular season, the Golden Bears (11-7, 3-2 Pac-12) are tied with the Cardinal (12-7, 3-2) for third place in the Pac-12 Conference.
 
In the Bears' first meeting with Stanford this season, Yuta Kikuchi defeated Arthur Fery, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, to clinch Cal's 4-3 victory on Jan. 20 at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Cal veteran also paired with Philip Hjorth to win 6-2 over Samir Banerjee and Aryan Chaudhary in doubles, with Siddhant Banthia and Carl Emil Overbeck later clinching the doubles point for the Bears with a 6-4 result over Stanford's Fery and Neel Rajesh.
 
Click here for the Stanford live stream and live scores. Fans can also keep track of the Bears on Twitter @CalMensTennis.
 
Yuta Kikuchi Named Pac-12 Player Of The Week
Cal star Yuta Kikuchi was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Tuesday, after the graduate student led the then-No. 43 Bears to conference victories over No. 28 UCLA and No. 10 USC in the last regular-season home matches of his career.
 
This is the second Pac-12 Player of the Week accolade for Kikuchi, who first garnered the honor in the spring of 2022.
 
Against the Bruins on Friday, Kikuchi defeated Patrick Zahraj, 6-4, 6-2, at court-one singles to clinch Cal's 4-0 win. Kikuchi also partnered with senior Philip Hjorth to clinch the doubles point with a 7-5 win over UCLA's Jeffrey Fradkin and Aadarsh Tripathi on court three.
 
On Saturday, in possibly his last match as a collegian at the Hellman Tennis Complex, Kikuchi beat USC's 35th-ranked Stefan Dostanic, 6-3, 6-1, for his fifth consecutive singles win. That win gave Cal a 1-1 tie with the Trojans and started a comeback that resulted in Cal's 4-3 triumph.
 
Poll Position
Cal is ranked 29th in this week's ITA team poll. Yuta Kikuchi (14-6) is ranked 29th in singles, while the duo of Ryder Jackson and Lucas Magnaudet (14-3) is ranked 61st and the tandem of Kikuchi and Carl Emil Overbeck (4-0) is ranked 80th in doubles.
 
Bears Sweep L.A. Schools
Cal swept UCLA and USC in the Bears' last home matches of the regular season last week. Along with Yuta Kikuchi's heroics (see above) In the 4-0 win over the 28th-ranked Bruins on Friday, Cal got singles wins from Carl Emil Overbeck, who beat Aadarsh Tripathi, 6-1, 6-3, and Philip Hjorth, who defeated Gianluca Balotta, 6-1, 6-2.
 
Prior to the match with the Trojans on Saturday, Cal celebrated the careers of Siddhant Banthia, Philip Hjorth and Yuta Kikuchi in its Senior Day ceremony, and, during the match, Cal honored the legacy of late alumnus Jim McManus on McManus Legends Day. After the match, Cal celebrated its 4-3 victory over 10th-ranked USC, with the Bears bouncing back from 1-0 and 3-2 deficits to upset the Trojans.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Cal has an 81-138-2 record in the all-time series with Stanford
• The Bears have won two consecutive dual matches
• Sophomore Cal Emil Overbeck has won six of his last seven singles matches
• The doubles team of Ryder Jackson and Lucas Magnaudet has captured 10 of its last 11 matches
• Jackson had an impressive first fall as a Bear, reaching the singles final of the ITA Northwest Super Regional Championships and competing in singles in the ITA National Fall Championships
• Yuta Kikuchi posted a big win In the Hawaii Invitational on Jan. 9, defeating Duke's fourth-ranked Garrett Johns, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0(5)
• In the fall, Kikuchi won his first professional singles title when he took the crown at the Norman Open in Oklahoma; the Japan native also reached the singles final of the KPSF Open in San Francisco
• Overbeck shone in doubles and singles in the fall, joining Jackson in the singles semifinals of super regionals and teaming with Kikuchi to repeat as doubles champs in the Battle in the Bay Classic in September
• The duo of sophomore Mikey Wright and freshman John Kim won the doubles title at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships in Berkeley in October
• Kris Kwinta (UCLA '08) is in his second season as the Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis
• Former BYU player Francis Sargeant is in his second year as a Cal assistant coach

Scouting the Cardinal

• In its most recent matches, Stanford lost to No. 10 USC, 4-2, on April 7 and beat No. 28 UCLA, 4-2, on April 8
• Four Cardinal players are ranked in singles: No. 5 Arthur Fery, No. 12 Nishesh Basavarredy. No. 21 Max Basing and No. 49 Samir Banerjee
• The pair of Basavarredy and Fery is ranked 23rd in doubles
• Paul Goldstein is in his ninth year as head coach of Stanford

Next Time
Cal closes the regular season at No. 55 Oregon on April 21 at 1:30 p.m. and at No. 54 Washington on April 23 at 12 p.m.
 
Stay Posted
For further coverage of the Bears, follow them on Twitter (@CalMensTennis), Instagram (@CalMensTennis) and Facebook (@CalMensTennis).