NEWPORT, R.I. – California's Karla Popovic, Stephane Lin and Alexis Nelson won in singles and the Golden Bears won two out of three doubles matches on the opening day of the season on Friday in the inaugural Hall of Fame ITA Grass Court Invitational. The three-day tournament, which ends on Sunday, is taking place on the International Tennis Hall of Fame courts, including historic Bill Talbert Stadium Court.
 
"It was a great first day," Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. "We played quite well in doubles. But for most of the team, this was the first time they played on grass at least competitively. I'm happy that Alexis Nelson, a freshman, got her first two wins as a Golden Bear.
 
"Along with the competition, part of this trip is experiencing the history of tennis, experiencing something new, and learning about the sport in a different location than where we normally play. It's been a fantastic experience thus far. The ITA and Hall of Fame staff have been really hospitable in making this a great event. We're happy to have been asked to play here."
 
Players from four teams – Cal, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech and Harvard – are playing each other in singles and doubles tournaments, which are divided up into various flights named after mostly retired legends of the game.
 
Popovic, a junior ranked 90th in the Oracle/ITA preseason singles poll, defeated Harvard's Annika Ringblom, 6-0, 6-2, in the Stefani Graf Flight. Nelson, a freshman making her collegiate debut, beat Georgia Tech's Nami Otsuka, 7-6, 2-6, 12-10 in the Martina Hingis Flight, and Lin, a senior, knocked off Harvard's Isabel Jasper, 6-1, 7-5.
 
The Bears also suffered five losses in singles. Senior Denise Starr – ranked 62nd – fell to Oklahoma State's 26th-ranked Vladica Babic, 7-6, 3-6, 7-10, in the Billie Jean King Flight, 86th-ranked sophomore Olivia Hauger retired when trailing Georgia Tech's Kenya Jones, 6-3, 5-4, in the Chris Evert Flight, freshman Maria Smith dropped a 5-7, 6-3, 10-4, match to Oklahoma State's Lena Ruppert in the Monica Seles Flight, and junior Audrey Mayer lost to Harvard's Natasha Gonzalez, 7-5, 6-3, and Georgia Tech's Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer, 7-6, 6-4, in the Lindsay Davenport Flight.
 
The new pair of Starr and Smith beat Harvard's June Lee/Nika Besker, 8-4, to advance in the Casals/King Doubles Draw, while the first-time duo of Popovic and Nelson prevailed, 8-6, against the Crimson team of Ringblom/Sabrina Xiong in the Fernandez/Zvereva Flight. Lin and Mayer – who played together several times last season – competed in the Navratilova/Shriver Doubles Flight, falling to Harvard's Erica Oosterhout/Irene Lu, 8-1.
 
The tournament continues Saturday with matches starting at 10 a.m. ET.