BERKELEY – The 23rd-ranked California men's tennis team kept its season perfect by routing UC Davis 7-0 on Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex, with Bernardo Munk Mesa clinching the victory thanks to a straight-set singles win.
 
The Golden Bears improved their record to 7-0 after a match that took a relatively quick two hours and 15 minutes to complete. The Aggies are 3-3.
 
Munk Mesa defeated Sam De Vries 6-2, 6-2 on court five to secure Cal's triumph. The first-year Bear along with sophomore Jonathan Irwanto got the chance to play in singles in the absence of two of Cal's most talented players in fourth-ranked Carl Emil Overbeck and 104th-ranked Timofey Stepanov.
 
"It was good," said Kris Kwinta, Cal's Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis. "We were minus Carlo and minus Timo. It was good to give more opportunities to more guys and see how they respond. You could see we hadn't played in a few days. They got rusty, but once they got going, it was pretty good. Overall this gives you an idea of where you're at and what you need to address still. You have to have the mentality of never arriving, really. I saw a lot of improvements from certain guys, but overall we do need to play a little bit more to win, to go for your shots, to play a little bit braver tennis. But it was a good performance by the Bears today."
 
Cal came out strong, taking the doubles point with wins on courts three and one. In only their second match together, the duo of Theo Dean and Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski first defeated De Vries and Rithvik Katpelly 6-2. Alex Chang, who served out match point, and Mikey Wright wrapped up the doubles point with a 6-4 win over Ryan Torres and Ivan Savkin on court one.
 
The Bears were dominant in singles, winning all six courts in straight sets. Thirty-fifth-ranked Theo Dean, playing court-one singles for just the second time for the Bears, quickly increased the lead to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ryan Torres. Derrick Chen, ranked 88th, won next 6-2, 6-2 over Kaveh Taheri, before Munk Mesa – with his first clinching win at Cal – gave the Bears a 4-0 lead and the official win.
 
Chang, ranked 75th, followed closely behind with a 6-2, 6-3 win over 93rd-ranked Lucas Bollinger – the Aggies' only nationally ranked player – Lechno-Wasiutynski remained unbeaten (4-0) in his young collegiate career when he prevailed 6-1, 7-6(2) over Katpelly, and Irwanto ended the day beating Perry DiGiulio 6-4, 7-5.
 
Cal next heads to North Carolina to play its first ACC matches against two nationally ranked opponents. They take on No. 19 NC State on Feb. 28 in Raleigh and face No. 2 Wake Forest on March 2 in Winston-Salem.

No. 23 California (7-0) defeated UC Davis (3-3), 7-0
Feb. 15, 2025, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
 
Doubles
1. Alex Chang/Mikey Wright (Cal) def. Ivan Savkin/Ryan Torres (UC Davis), 6-4
2. Derrick Chen/Jonathan Irwanto (Cal) vs. Lucas Bollinger/Kaveh Taheri (UC Davis), 4-5 Unfinished
3. Theo Dean/Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski (Cal) def. Sam De Vries/Rithvik Katpelly (UC Davis), 6-2
 
Order of Finish – 3, 1*
*Clinched the doubles point for Cal
 
Singles
1. No. 35 Theo Dean (Cal) def. Ryan Torres (UC Davis), 6-2, 6-3
2. No. 75 Alex Chang (Cal) def. No. 93 Lucas Bollinger (UC Davis), 6-2, 6-3
3. No. 88 Derrick Chen (Cal) def. Kaveh Taheri (UC Davis), 6-2, 6-2
4. Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski (Cal) def. Rithvik Katpelly (UC Davis), 6-1, 7-6(2)
5. Bernardo Munk Mesa (Cal) def. Sam De Vries (UC Davis), 6-2, 6-2
6. Jonathan Irwanto (Cal) def. Perry DiGiulio (UC Davis), 6-4, 7-5