April 22, 2004
OJAI, Calif. -
Although they may be better known for their play as teammates on the nation's No. 11-ranked doubles team, Cal's Balazs Veress and Patrick Briaud are making names for themselves individually in this year's Pac-10 championships. Both Cal players won their first- and second-round matches on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2004 Pac-10 Men's Singles Championships in Ojai, Calif.
Two rounds of singles matches were played on Thursday. In first-round action, Veress blew past Stanford's Philip Sheng, 6-2, 6-3, and Briaud upset UCLA's Kris Kwinta, 6-4, 6-4. In the second round, Veress defeated Arizona's Colin O'Grady, 7-5, 6-1, and Briaud beat Arizona's Roger Matalonga, 6-4, 2-6, 1-3 ret (ill). Matalonga was forced to retire from the match due to illness.
Friday will be a busy day for Veress and Briaud at Libbey Park, as they begin doubles competition with a first-round match vs. Daniel Davies and Chris Letcher of Arizona State at 10:30 a.m., prior to taking the court individually to play their quarterfinal matches at noon. Veress plays Chris Lam of UCLA and Briaud plays Stanford's Sam Warburg. Should they each win their quarterfinal matches, the two Golden Bears will play each other in the semifinals for the right to advance to the finals.
In other first-round singles action, Cal's Wayne Wong was upset by Arizona State's Clint Letcher, 6-4, 7-6, and Cal's Tyler Browne lost to UCLA's Luben Pampoulov, 6-4, 6-2. In the invitational draw, Cal's Jake Leivent, John Pettit, and Kuni Minato all lost in the first round.
Cal Men's Tennis Results
Pac-10 Individual Championships
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Singles: Main Draw
First Round
Balazs Veress (Cal) d. Philip Sheng (Stan), 6-2, 6-3
Luben Pampoulov (UCLA) d. Tyler Browne (Cal), 6-4, 6-2
Patrick Briaud (Cal) d. Kris Kwinta (UCLA), 6-4, 6-4
Clint Letcher (ASU) d. Wayne Wong (Cal), 6-4, 7-6
Second Round
Balazs Veress (Cal) d. Colin O'Grady (Ariz), 7-5, 6-1
Patrick Briaud (Cal) d. Roger Matalonga (Ariz), 6-4, 2-6, 1-3 ret (ill)
Singles: Invitational Draw
First Round
Jason Nguyen (UCLA) d. Jake Leivent (Cal), 6-3, 7-5
Tim Mullane (Ariz) d. John Pettit (Cal), 6-4, 6-4
Parker Collins (USC) d. Kuni Minato (Cal), 6-3, 6-2
