BERKELEY – The California men's tennis team heads to La Jolla to compete in the annual Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship from Friday through Sunday and to face UC San Diego on Sunday.
 
The annual Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship is an open tournament that will crown main draw and consolation champions. The Golden Bears' Kris Kwinta and Francis Sargeant – Cal's Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis and assistant coach, respectively, who won the tournament's consolation title in 2022 – are back to compete in a field that includes current Cal players. Cal assistant coach Vasileios Iliopoulos will also compete in the tournament, pairing with former Santa Clara teammate Arthur Neuhaus.
 
Several Cal duos are seeded, including the second-seeded pair of junior Alex Chang and new addition Qian Sun, a sophomore from China who recently signed with the Bears (see below). Juniors Mikey Wright and Carl Emil Overbeck (5-2) are seeded sixth, seniors Ryder Jackson and Lucas Magnaudet (0-1) are seeded 17th, and freshmen Jonathan Irwanto and Timofey Stepanov (6-2) are likewise seeded 17th. Kwinta and Sargeant are among many other pairs – including Iliopoulos and Neuhaus – seeded 17th.
 
Other Bears competing in the doubles tournament include the pair of sophomore John Kim and freshman Alex Aney (3-4) and freshman Ethan Schiffman, who's teamed with Marco Alvarez.
 
Former Cal players competing in the doubles tournament include erstwhile Cal head coach Peter Wright and Thomas Wright – Peter's oldest son and Mikey's brother – along with former Cal associate head coach Tyler Browne, who's paired with Sacramento State volunteer assistant coach Nick Brunner.
 
For more information – including the draws – please visit the USTA's website for the tournament by clicking here.
 
Match Details
 
Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship
When: Friday-Sunday, March 1-3
Where: La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, La Jolla, Calif.
Scores: Draws
 
Cal (3-5) at UC San Diego (3-10)
When: Sunday, March 3, 3 p.m. PT
Where: Northview Tennis Courts, La Jolla, Calif.
 
Sun Signs With Cal
Cal's Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis Kris Kwinta announced the signing of Qian Sun on Thursday. Sun, a 22-year-old sophomore, is eligible to compete when the Bears play at the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship.
 
"It's always been my dream to come to a United States university and be able to play tennis and study," Sun said. "I wanted to play in college. I love college tennis. I'm a team guy, and I like to compete with a team. I want to develop my game here then play on the tour. And I came to Cal because it's one of the best schools in the world."
 
One of Sun's best recent results was winning the doubles title in the M15 Nakhon Si Thammarat tournament in Thailand in September. Sun also competed in doubles qualifying in the 2023 China Open in Beijing. He has career-best ATP rankings of 470 in doubles and 1160 in singles.
 
"I'm a better doubles player than singles, for sure," Sun said.
 
A product of Shanghai, Sun and his family lived in Australia for several years before moving back to China. The 6-2 Sun previously attended the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
 
Last Time Out: Bears Fall In Big Slam
Carl Emil Overbeck upset Stanford's 32nd-ranked Samir Banerjee in singles Sunday, but Cal lost to the 34th-ranked Cardinal, 4-1, in the Big Slam on The Farm.
 
Overbeck and Mikey Wright got Cal off to a good start in doubles, with the towering duo beating Banerjee and Nishesh Basavareddy, 6-2, on court one. But after a court-three loss for the Bears, Stanford secured the doubles point when Max Basing and Nico Godsick defeated Alex Chang and Timofey Stepanov, 6-4, on court two.
 
In singles, Cal losses on courts six and two left the Bears in a 3-0 hole, until Overbeck bested Banerjee, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, on court one. Cal trailed 3-1.
 
The match ended when Stanford's Hudson Rivera beat Stepanov, 6-4, 6-4, on court four to clinch the win for the Cardinal.
 
Last Year In La Jolla
The Bears ended their run in the 2023 Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship on March 4, when Carl Emil Overbeck and Siddhant Banthia lost in the round of 16 at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. The third-seeded duo fell to San Diego State's 17th-seeded Chikaya Sato and Johannes Seeman, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
 
The Cal pair of Derrick Chen and John Kim as well as the team of Lucas Magnaudet and Yuta Kikuchi also competed in La Jolla.
 
Poll Position
Senior Ryder Jackson moved into the ITA singles poll at No. 58 after upsetting San Diego's then-third ranked Oliver Tarvet, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, on Feb. 18 in Berkeley. The pair of Alex Chang and Mikey Wright – which beat USD's then-No. 21 duo of Stian Klaassen and Sacchitt Sharrma, 6-3 – is ranked 51st in doubles.
 
Scouting the Bears

• Cal is 1-0 in the all-time series with UCSD
• The nationally ranked Ryder Jackson has records of 5-2 in singles and 5-3 in doubles
• Berkeley natives Mikey Wright and Alex Chang have a 2-0 doubles record; Chang is 14-7 in doubles overall and Wright is 13-8
• Sophomore Jonathan Irwanto (15-9) leads the Bears in singles wins
• Both Chang (14-8) and Timofey Stepanov (12-11) won twice in singles in the Feb. 3 doubleheader vs. UC Davis
• Chang (vs. Pepperdine), Stepanov (vs. UC Davis) and John Kim (vs. UC Davis) have each clinched a Cal win this season
• Overbeck, who has records of 12-10 in singles and 10-7 in doubles, captured the singles title at the Jack Kramer Invitational to close the first half of the season
• Kris Kwinta (UCLA '08) is in his third season as the Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis
• Francis Sargeant (BYU '15) is in his third season as a Cal assistant coach
• Former Santa Clara star Vasileios Iliopoulos is in his first season as a Cal assistant coach

 Scouting the Tritons

• UCSD has won three of its last four matches, including victories against Saint Katherine, 7-0, Idaho, 4-2, and Villanova, 6-1, with the Tritons beating the Wildcats on Thursday at home
• Philip Lan was named the Big West Player of the Week on Jan. 31 after beating Utah State's 96th-ranked Bodin Zarkovic, 6-4, 6-4
• Two of UCSD's 10 losses came in a doubleheader with Arizona, which beat the Tritons 6-0 and 6-1 on Jan. 14
• Timmer Willing is in his 12th year as UC San Diego's head coach

Next Time
Cal plays at SMU on March 10 in Dallas.
 
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