BERKELEY – The fourth-ranked California men's tennis returns to the courts and opens the dual-match season when it hosts an ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Friday and Saturday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. Cal Poly, Tulane and Pepperdine join the Golden Bears in the four-team event, whose winner advances to the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship.
 
On Friday, Cal faces Cal Poly on Friday at 10 a.m., with Tulane taking on Pepperdine at 1 p.m. The two winners then play at 1 p.m. on Saturday, after a 10 a.m. consolation match.
 
Admission is free to the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at Hellman. Fans can also follow the action using the Hellman live stream available by clicking here and by following @CalMensTennis on Twitter.
 
The national indoor tournament is scheduled for Feb. 17-20 at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Virginia. The winners of the 15 ITA Kick-Off Weekends around the country qualify for indoors and join the University of Virginia – the host of the national tournament – in Charlottesville.
 
Cal is returning to the ITA Kick-Off Weekend for the first time in two years after missing it last season, when bad weather on the East Coast prevented the Bears from joining host Duke, San Diego and Vanderbilt for the tournament in Durham, North Carolina.

Poll Position
Cal moved up one spot to No. 4 in the Jan. 25 Oracle/ITA team poll.

In the first singles poll of the New Year, Florian Lakat, who posted a 7-3 singles record in the fall, is 12th, Andre Goransson (No. 15, 12-4 record), junior Billy Griffith (No. 32, 10-2), Bergevi (No. 69, 11-2) and freshman Bjorn Hoffmann (No. 82, 12-3) all earned rankings. The pair of Bergevi and Lakat is ranked No. 2 in doubles, and the duo of Goransson and Griffith is ranked 45th.
 
Scouting the Bears

• One of the biggest highlights of the fall was Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat winning the doubles title at the Saint Francis Health System All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That victory qualified them for the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing Meadows, New York.
• Bergevi and Lakat, both seniors, have compiled an 8-2 doubles record so far this season.
• Lakat also competed at national indoors in singles and finished the fall with a 7-3 record.
• In another big highlight, senior Andre Goransson captured the singles title in the ITA Northwest Regional Championships presented by Oracle, which Cal hosted at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Hollviken, Sweden, native defeated teammate and compatriot Bergevi – from Ahus, Sweden – in the final, 6-4, 7-6(3).
• Goransson, whose victory also qualified him for national indoors, posted a 12-4 singles record in the fall.
• In the fall, in addition to the regional, Cal hosted the Berkeley Futures professional tournament in October, with Goransson reaching the singles final and, paired with former Pacific player Sem Verbeek, the doubles final.

Scouting the Field

• Cal Poly has a 1-0 record after winning, 6-1, at Boise State on Monday
• The Mustangs' Ben Donovan is ranked 45th in singles
• Donovan and Corey Pang are ranked 21st in doubles, while Garrett Auproux and Tim Tan are ranked 53rd
• Pepperdine is 1-0 after routing LMU, 7-0, at home on Jan. 21
• Tulane's Constantin Schmitz is ranked 54th
• The Green Wave is currently 0-0 but plays Alcorn State twice on Tuesday

Last Time: Fall Ends Indoors
The fall half of the 2016-17 season ended for Cal on Nov. 5 in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing Meadows, New York.
 
The 17th-ranked Andre Goransson lost to Northwestern's 44th-ranked Strong Kirchheimer, 6-2, 6-3, in the quarterfinals at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. In the doubles semifinals, the top-seeded and second-ranked pair of Florian Lakat and Filip Bergevi fell against Oklahoma State's fourth-seeded and top-ranked Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe in a tight match, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(11).
 
Bears Celebrate 125 Years of Cal Tennis
Cal men's tennis is celebrating the 125th year of the program, which has produced multiple national champions and All-Americans in its storied history. The perennial powerhouse, which was founded in 1892, has won three national team titles, four national singles titles and 14 national doubles championships from NCAA, USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships and ITA All-American Championships. The Golden Bears have also captured several conference singles and doubles titles as well.
 
Now in his 24th year as head coach at his alma mater, Peter Wright has coached 17 players who combined to earn 18 All-America honors and led the 2015-16 squad to the NCAA team semifinals. Wright has earned his share of accolades along the way, including his third Pac-12 Coach of the Year award last season and selection into the USTA NorCal Hall of Fame in the summer of 2015.
 
Next Time
Cal plays at Stanford in a nonconference dual match on Feb. 3 at 2 p.m. and then plays at Pepperdine on Feb. 12 at 1 p.m.