The California women's tennis team begins the New Year with the Cal Winter Invitational, with the Golden Bears hosting the event at the Hellman Tennis Complex and Channing Tennis Courts. Players from Stanford, Cal Poly and Saint Mary's will join the Bears in their annual invitational, which includes singles and doubles tournaments.
 
On Friday, the matches begin at 1 p.m. PT, with the start times for the weekend and the draws for the Cal Winer Invite to be announced. Friday's women's action at the Hellman Tennis Complex will take place between the Cal men's tennis team's 10 a.m. PT dual match against Cal Poly and the men's 4 p.m. PT dual match against San Diego State also at Hellman.
 
Cal Winter Invitational
When: Friday-Sunday; 1 p.m. PT (Friday), TBA (Saturday-Sunday)
Where: Hellman Tennis Complex, Channing Tennis Courts, Berkeley, CA
Watch: PlaySight (at Hellman; live stream not available at Channing)
Admission: Free
 
Last Time Out: Passola Folch Stars In NCAA Singles
Berta Passola Folch capped a strong fall half of the season for the Bears with a run to the final of the NCAA Singles Championship at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. She won in straight sets through the first four rounds at NCAAs before defeating 67th-ranked Emily Welker of Ole Miss 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(7) in the semifinals. The Cal veteran ultimately lost to North Carolina's third-ranked Reese Brantmeier in the final 6-3, 6-3. Along the way, Passola Folch – competing in the first individual postseason tournament of her career – earned All-America honors. Passola Folch became the first Golden Bear to reach the NCAA singles final since Lynn Chi advanced to the championship match in 2014. The last NCAA individual final that Cal reached took place in 2016, when Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr played in the doubles championship match.
 
Passola Folch was one of four Bears competing at NCAA singles, including Mao Mushika, Naomi Xu and Greta Greco Lucchina. Mushika and Greco Lucchina also competed in the NCAA Doubles Championship in Orlando.
 
Poll Position
After NCAAs, the ITA released its final singles and doubles polls of 2025, with four Bears earning singles rankings and two doubles teams garnering doubles rankings. Coming off of her run to the NCAA singles final, Berta Passola Folch (16-4) earned a No. 9 ranking, while Naomi Xu (6-3) moved to No. 63, Mao Mushika (9-5) came in at No. 73 and Greta Greco Lucchina (11-4) was ranked 92nd.
 
In doubles, the pair of Mushika and Greco Lucchina (5-1) was ranked 77th while the duo of Mushika and freshman Laura Cilekova (1-2) was ranked 80th.
 
Next Time
Cal starts the dual-match season in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Texas, with the Golden Bears facing Baylor on Jan. 24 and then taking on the host Longhorns or Arizona on Jan. 25. The winner of the weekend advances to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in February.
 
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