University of California Athletics

Spring 2020: Finished his junior season with a 13-7 doubles record (including 3-2 at court one) and an 8-6 singles mark…Kaya and Paul Barretto were ranked 68th in the March 3 Oracle ITA poll…the pair defeated UCLA’s Govind Nanda and Keegan Smith, ranked 29th as of the March 3 Oracle ITA poll, 6-1, and clinched the doubles point against San Francisco with a 6-1 victory over Paul Giraud and Ori Maior on court one.

Fall 2019: Was 9-4 in doubles (including 7-4 with Paul Barretto) and 8-6 in singles…Kaya and Barretto reached the doubles semifinals of the Milwaukee Tennis Classic, with the Bears attempting to repeat as champions…but the Cal duo fell in the semis, 9-8(7), to eventual champions Tadas Babelis/Yannai Barkai of N.C. State…Kaya/Barretto reached the quarters of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, after posting a round of 16 victory over Fresno State’s Angus Bradshaw and Johannes Seeman, 8-5…closed out 2019 with three singles wins at Harvard’s Chowder Fest.

Spring 2019: Posted a 30-8 doubles record (including a 17-4 dual-match doubles record) and a 5-4 singles record in his junior season…won nine of his first 10 doubles matches in the spring…in the NCAA team tournament opening round of 64, Kaya teamed with Paul Barretto to beat Drake’s Vuk Budic and Gui Gomes, 7-6(4), at court-two doubles…clinched the doubles point nine times (eight times with Paul Barretto and once with Thomas Wright) in the spring.
 
Fall 2018: Was 13-4 doubles and 5-4 in singles in the fall…paired with Paul Barretto to win the doubles title in the Milwaukee Tennis Classic in September…the duo beat Tennessee’s Luca Wiedenmann and Preston Touliatos, 8-3, in the final, and the Bears also upset Virginia Tech’s 12th-ranked duo of Alex Ribeiro and Henrik Korsgaard, 8-5, in the semifinals…the two also reached the doubles semifinals of the ITA Northwest Regional Championships…partnered with Jackson Suh to win the Saint Mary’s Invitational doubles crown, with the Bears topping Santa Clara’s Andrew Gu and Vasileios Iliopoulos, 8-6, in the final.

Spring 2018: Finished his first season with a 13-10 doubles record and a 7-4 singles mark…in Cal’s championship run at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge, Kaya and Dominic Barretto won two out of three doubles matches, including Purdue’s Javier Rodriguez and Mateo Julio, 6-0, in the first round and Arizona State’s Tom Wright and Will Kirkman, 6-1, in the final…posted a 6-7 doubles record with Barretto and was 1-1 paired with Jack Molloy.

Fall 2017: Posted a 7-4 singles mark and, paired with Gunther Matta, notched a 6-2 doubles record…in his first semester as a collegian, Kaya reached the singles semifinals in both the Aggie Invitational and UCSB Classic…also played in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships…in doubles, Kaya and Matta won three matches at regionals before falling to Gonzaga’s Ruadhan O’Sullivan and Sam Feit, 8-6, in the quarterfinals.

Personal: Economics major…first name is pronounced “John”…played in several Turkish futures tournaments in the summer of 2017, reaching the doubles semifinals in a May tournament in his hometown of Ankara…represented Turkey in the 2013 ITF World Junior Championships…hobbies include soccer and basketball…parents are Tulay and Cem Kaya…grandfather Kemal Kaya played professional soccer and played for the Turkish national team.