MORAGA/BERKELEY – The California men's tennis team started the dual-match season in fine fashion Saturday afternoon at Saint Mary's, with the Golden Bears routing the Gaels 6-1 at the Korth Tennis Complex, but the teams could not complete the nightcap in Berkeley. After Cal started off strong by capturing the doubles point, the second meeting between the teams was suspended midway through the match with dew from the cold night making the courts slick at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The match was eventually rescheduled to Monday at 1 p.m. PT at Hellman, and play will resume with Cal leading Saint Mary's 1-0.
 
The Bears will bring a 1-0 record into Monday's clash with the 0-2 Gaels.
 
Cal senior Derrick Chen clinched the first contest against Saint Mary's, defeating Stevie Gould 7-6, 7-6 at court three singles. Freshman Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski – who joined the Bears last week – made his collegiate debut, beating Thibaud Maxant 7-5, 6-2 on court four.
 
Earlier, Cal won the doubles point after the 30th-ranked pair of Carl Emil Overbeck and Theo Dean topped Maxant and Paulo Hugo Etchecoin 6-3 on court one and the 84th-ranked duo of Alex Chang and Mikey Wright bested Gould and Finn Dyer 6-2 on court two.
 
"It was good to see some new faces on the court," said Kris Kwinta, Cal's Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis. "In the first match, we put some new faces in the lineup who hadn't seen that much action. After winning the doubles point, we were extremely nervous, which was interesting to see. But I guess that was to be expected after not playing for such a long time and not being on the courts together. Kudos to them – they jumped on us early in singles and really took advantage of the home court. We were down on all six courts early.
 
"It was revealing. You always look to your senior leadership and all the guys on this team to bounce back, and you look to see what they do under pressure. That's what you play these matches for– you want to see how they respond when the chips are down. It was cool to see Alex Aney come back from 0-4 down and Fryderyk come back from 2-5 down to win his first set and give us momentum on the back courts. Mikey came back in three sets and Dezza clinched in two. Once we started coming back, it was all Bears."
 
California (1-0) def. Saint Mary's (0-2), 6-1
Jan. 18, 2025, in Moraga, Calif.
Korth Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. #30 Theo Dean/Carl Emil Overbeck (Cal) def. Paulo Hugo Etchecoin/Thibaud Maxant (SMC), 6-3
2. #84 Alex Chang/Mikey Wright (Cal) def. Stevie Gould/Finn Dyer (SMC), 6-2
3. Derrick Chen/Timofey Stepanov (Cal) vs. Ellison Greco/Carlos Ramos Membrives (SMC), 5-2 DNF
 
Singles
1. #32 Theo Dean (Cal) def. Paulo Hugo Etchecoin (SMC), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
2. Carlos Ramos Membrives (SMC) def. #66 Alex Chang (Cal), 6-2, 0-6, 7-6
3. #102 Derrick Chen (Cal) def. Stevie Gould (SMC), 7-6, 7-6
4. Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynki (Cal) def. Thibaud Maxant (SMC), 7-5, 6-2
5. Alex Aney (Cal) def. Pierre Lieutaud (SMC), 7-6, 6-0
6. Mikey Wright (Cal) def. Finn Dyer (SMC), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
 
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