BERKELEY – One week after missing out on the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Duke, No. 27 California got plenty of court time on Saturday, when the Golden Bears romped over Hawaii, 4-0, and No. 69 San Francisco, 4-0, under a partly cloudy sky at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
In a pair of nonconference matches, Cal beat the Rainbow Warriors (1-4) in the morning and then knocked off the Dons (1-5) in the afternoon to improve its record to 2-1.
“The way we competed today is really the start of the process for us for the rest of the season,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “We made some progress from obviously the start of the season till now. We feel this is a direction for us to head. All of our guys, in all 18 of the matches we played today, were very focused. We didn't lose a set anywhere out there, and that's more a testament to the quality of the mental focus that we had combined with how well we're playing on the court.”
The doubleheader came at the perfect time for the Bears, who didn't travel to Duke last week – and didn't get to play two matches in Durham, North Carolina – due to bad weather on the East Coast.
“We didn't get the chance to play in the Kick-Off, so we prepared really well and we were all really hungry, and it showed today on the court,” Cal junior Florian Lakat said.
On Saturday, Cal used fielded two different doubles teams from what they used in a 4-3 loss at Tulsa on Jan. 15. Lakat and senior Mads Engsted teamed up, and juniors Filip Bergevi and Andre Goransson paired up. But it was the duo of sophomores J.T. Nishimura and Billy Griffith – which did play at Tulsa – that clinched both the doubles point against Hawaii – with a 6-3 win over Joakim Pinola and Igor Kolaric – and the doubles point against the Dons – with a 6-2 victory over Vasco Valverde and Ryan Marker.
On changing around the doubles teams, Wright said, “I think it worked out well. Our doubles teams at one and two are interchangeable. Even in singles we shuffled some guys around because we have a lot of parity in that group, and I want guys to feel comfortable playing in any position out there on the courts. I think they showed that today that mentally they're capable and ready to play wherever they need to play.”
The Bears swapped its singles players on courts one and two (Lakat and Goransson) and its players on courts three and four (Bergevi and Griffith) between the two matches. They also used Nishimura on court six against UH and Engsted on court six against USF. In the end, the 30th-ranked Lakat clinched the overall victory against the Rainbow Warriors, with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Felix Albert on court one, while the third-ranked Goransson topped USF's Nils Skajaa, 6-2, 6-0, on court one to wrap up the win over the Dons.
“I thought it (his singles match vs. USF) was a lot better than the first one (against Hawaii),” Goransson said. “I was more committed to my shots and was very focused the whole match through, from the start. It's good getting a lot of matches now, because that's what we need.”
“It's been two weeks we've been practicing now, and we've been working on what we've needed to work on,” Lakat added. “In Tulsa, we (Lakat and Goransson) both had really tough losses; two close ones. We fought hard but maybe hadn't competed in a while. We've been playing a lot of sets in practice and really trying to have the right mindset, and, again, it showed on the court today.”
The Bears next play at No. 26 Texas on Feb. 6 and then take on No. 3 TCU on Feb. 7, with both matches taking place in Austin, Texas.
No. 27 California (1-1) defeated Hawaii (1-4) – 4-0
Jan. 30, 2016, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. Mads Engsted/Florian Lakat (Cal) vs. Felix Albert/Kai Wehnelt (Hawaii) – 5-2 Abandoned
2. Filip Bergevi/Andre Goransson (Cal) def. Marcel Chan/Nikolai Storch (Hawaii) – 6-1
3. Billy Griffith/J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Joakim Pinola/Igor Kolaric (Hawaii) – 6-3
Cal won the doubles point.
Order of Finish – 2, 3*
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. No. 30 Florian Lakat (Cal) def. Felix Albert (Hawaii) – 6-1, 6-2
2. No. 3 Andre Goransson (Cal) vs. Kai Wehnelt (Hawaii) – 6-3, 4-1 Abandoned
3. No. 86 Filip Bergevi (Cal) def. Marcel Chan (Hawaii) – 6-1, 6-2
4. No. 39 Billy Griffith (Cal) vs. Igor Kolaric (Hawaii) – 6-2, 5-3 Abandoned
5. No. 54 Oskar Wikberg (Cal) def. Joakim Pinola (Hawaii) – 6-3, 6-0
6. J.T. Nishimura (Cal) vs. Ruben Blattner (Hawaii) – 6-1, 4-3 Abandoned
Order of Finish – 3, 5, 1*
*Clinched the overall match
No. 27 California (2-1) defeated tNo. 69 San Francisco (1-5) – 4-0
Jan. 30, 2016, in Berkeley, Calif.
Hellman Tennis Complex
Doubles
1. Filip Bergevi/Andre Goransson (Cal) vs. Nils Skajaa/Thomas Takemoto (USF) – 4-2 Abandoned
2. Mads Engsted/Florian Lakat (Cal) def. Tynan Maguire/Christian Brockstedt (USF) – 6-1
3. Billy Griffith/J.T. Nishimura (Cal) def. Vasco Valverde/Ryan Marker (USF) – 6-2
Cal won the doubles point
Order of Finish – 2, 3*
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles
1. No. 3 Andre Goransson (Cal) def. Nils Skajaa (USF) – 6-2, 6-0
2. No. 30 Florian Lakat (Cal) vs. Thomas Takemoto (USF) – 6-3, 5-1 Abandoned
3. No. 39 Billy Griffith (Cal) vs. Ryan Marker (USF) – 6-3, 2-3 Abandoned
4. No. 86 Filip Bergevi (Cal) vs. Tynan Maguire (USF) – 6-2, 4-3 Abandoned
5. No. 54 Oskar Wikberg (Cal) def. Woravin Kumthonkittikul (USF) – 6-0, 6-3
6. Mads Engsted (Cal) vs. Jerod Mah (USF) – 6-0, 6-2
Order of Finish – 6, 5, 1*
*Clinched the overall match
