Bears Win Three Titles at Battle in the Bay
Cal Athletics

Bears Win Three Titles at Battle in the Bay

SAN FRANCISCO ? Andre Goransson won two championships as California captured all three men's titles on Sunday at the seventh annual Battle in the Bay Classic. Sunday also featured two Cal vs. Cal matches on the final day of action at the California Tennis Club.

Goransson - who had perhaps the busiest three days of anyone at the tournament - started the day by winning the doubles final with Florian Lakat, and after a semifinal victory over teammate Filip Bergevi, the Golden Bear junior prevailed in the singles final. Cal senior Oskar Wikberg ? on his birthday ? beat sophomore teammate Billy Griffith to win the consolation singles final.

Andre Goransson and Florian Lakat“For this early in the season, we had some high-quality performances,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “Andre Goransson won seven matches in two days ? a true ironman feat ? to clinch the singles and doubles titles today. Oskar Wikberg celebrated his birthday today with two victories in singles to win the consolation title over teammate Billy Griffith. Filip Bergevi reached the main draw singles semifinals only to lose a very close third-set tiebreaker to Andre. And Florian Lakat earned his first doubles title as a Bear.

“I couldn't be more proud of how hard our guys played and how much class and poise they displayed over the weekend. The Battle in the Bay and the Cal Club have an incredible event, and it gets better every year.”

The duo of Goransson and Lakat ? seeded second in the tournament and ranked 25th ? upset top-seeded and 17th-ranked Jordan Angus and Filip Vittek, 8-5, in doubles. Lakat, a junior who joined Cal this season after transferring from Mississippi State, was playing in his first tournament as a Golden Bear.

The top-seed in the singles field who's also ranked 25th in the ITA preseason poll, Goransson later took on Swedish compatriot and fellow junior Bergevi in the singles semis. He needed three sets to emerge victorious, 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(4), over the fifth-seeded and 56th-ranked Bergevi.

Andre Goransson

For winning this year's title, Goransson earned wild-card entry into the $100,000 Wells Fargo Tiburon Challenger, held Sept. 26-Oct. 4 at the Tiburon Peninsula Club in Tiburon, California.

Goransson has now appeared in three straight main draw singles championships at the Battle in the Bay Classic and has won two of the three titles. He won as a freshman in 2013 but lost in last year's final.

In the Battle in the Bay consolation singles bracket, Wikberg and Griffith each won a total of three matches before facing off in Sunday's final. They split sets before the elder Bear prevailed in the super tiebreaker, 6-1, 4-6, 1-0(5). This marks Cal's second straight win in the consolation singles final, as former Bear Gregory Bayane captured the title last season.

Cal returns to action when it hosts the USTA junior national team in an exhibition on Wednesday at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

Battle in the Bay Classic

Sept. 20, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif.

California Tennis Club

Main Draw

Doubles Final

[2] No. 25 Andre Goransson/Florian Lakat (Cal) def. [1] No. 17 Jordan Angus/Filip Vittek (San Diego) ? 8-5

Singles Semifinal

[1] No. 22 Andre Goransson (Cal) def. [5] tNo. 56 Filip Bergevi (Cal) ? 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(4)

Singles Final

[1] No. 22 Andre Goransson (Cal) def. Alec Adamson (UC Davis) ? 6-4, 7-5

Consolation Bracket

Singles Semifinal Round

Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Kyle Butters (Boise State) ? 6-3, 6-3

Oskar Wikberg (Cal) def. James Ponwith (San Diego) ? 6-2, 6-4

Singles Final

Oskar Wikberg (Cal) def. Billy Griffith (Cal) ? 6-1, 4-6, 1-0(5)

Sept. 19 in San Francisco, Calif.

Consolation Bracket

Singles Round of 16

Billy Griffith (Cal) def. Corey Pang (Cal Poly) ? 6-2, 6-3

Oskar Wikberg (Cal) def. Vasco Valverde (San Francisco) ? 6-1, 6-2

Singles Quarterfinal Round

Billy Griffith (Cal) def. [2] No. 30 Uros Petronijevic (San Diego) ? 6-2, 4-6, 1-0(9)

Oskar Wikberg (Cal) def. Toby Mitchell (Boise State) ? 1-6, 6-4, 1-0(2)

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