STANFORD, Calif. – California moved closer to putting some Golden Bears into finals on Saturday at the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional championships, when four Bears marched into the singles quarterfinals and three Cal teams advanced to the doubles round of 16 at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
Top-seeded junior Lynn Chi, third-seeded senior Zsofi Susanyi, fifth-seeded sophomore Maegan Manasse and unseeded freshman Karla Popovic all advanced in singles. Chi, Susanyi, Manasse and Popovic also advanced in doubles to the round of 16.
In the doubles round of 32 on Saturday, the top-seeded and 11th-ranked team of Manasse and sophomore Denise Starr defeated Sacramento State's Ana Loaiza/Alina Soltanici, 8-3; the third-seeded team of Susanyi and junior Klara Fabikova beat Seattle University's Michelle Lui/Kelli Woodman, 8-2; and the seventh-seeded pair of Chi and Popovic topped Parminder Kaur/Jana McCord of Saint Mary's, 8-2.
The Cal tandem of senior Cecilia Estlander and freshman Lyann Hoang had a difficult task, facing the fourth-seeded and 40th-ranked Cardinal team of Caroline Doyle and Ellen Tsay on their home court. The Bears lost, 8-2.
In singles, the eighth-ranked Chi eased past Washington's Natali Coronel, 6-0, 6-2, in the round of 32 and then topped the 14th-seeded and 49th-ranked Tsay, 6-1, 6-4, in the round of 16. Susanyi, ranked 16th, cruised past Cal Poly's Dane Joubert, 6-1, 6-0, and next stopped Washington's 13th-seeded Elianne Douglas-Miron, 6-2, 6-1, to set up a Sunday quarterfinal against Popovic. The first-year Bear first topped San Francisco's Andrea Ka, 6-2, 6-4, in the round of 32 and then eliminated Catherine Leduc, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, to earn a spot opposite Susanyi in the next round.
“Karla's a great competitor,” Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “She's adapting and adjusting very well to a whole new set of opponents and taking it match by match. Her and Lynn are working together well in doubles. Lynn's a very experienced player and she's been mentoring Karla in doubles, which is great.”
Ranked 43rd, Manasse beat Kareena Manji, 6-0, 6-4, in the round of 32, and next defeated Delphine Rouvillois, 6-2, 6-1, to move onto a Sunday quarterfinal against Stanford's 17th-ranked and second-seeded Caroline Zhao. Manasse could have played in another Bear vs. Bear quarterfinal, but Zhao scuttled that when she defeated Fabikova, 6-1, 6-7(1), 6-4, in the round of 16. Fabikova, ranked 60th, had knocked off McCord, the Gael, 6-2, 6-1, in the round of 32.
Also in the round of 32, Starr, ranked 25th, fell in an upset to Fresno State's Rana Sherif Ahmed, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
“It was a good day today for sure,” Augustus said. “Everyone had to up their level today as we're starting to get to the later rounds. I was excited to see how the team responded. Having one of our freshmen get into the quarterfinals is big; it's a good start for her. Unfortunately she has to play one of her teammates tomorrow. And then Klara lost to Carol Zhao today, but it was a really hard fought-match. Klara is getting better and better. She was pushing basically a top-10 player and was a couple points away in that third set.
“Both Lynn and Zsofi played quite well today. They were off the court very quickly in singles. Maegan has continued her strong, consistent play. They set the tone today. We're going to have some familiar matches tomorrow in Lynn against Stanford's Taylor Davidson, and Maegan against Zhao is a good opportunity for Maegan. Cessi lost her match this morning but had a good effort against one of the Washington players.
“Tomorrow should be even more of a test, but everyone's feeling good and hitting the ball well. The conditions are great at Stanford. I'm pretty pleased with how everyone's been competing and working really hard.”
On Sunday, the doubles round of 16 matches will begin at 10 a.m., and the singles quarterfinals are scheduled to start at noon. The regional, which began on Friday, will conclude with finals on Tuesday.
