Cal Men’s Tennis Begins Fall Campaign

After a second-round exit at the NCAA Championship in May, the California men's tennis team will open its fall campaign at the ITA Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The tournament, which begins Saturday, will have a draw size of the following:

Singles:

Pre-Qualifying (160)
Qualifying (64)
Main Draw (64)

Doubles:

Pre-Qualifying (32)
Qualifying (32)
Main Draw (32)

Players competing in the main draws will have a chance to earn berths to the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in November.

The Golden Bears will send four players to Tulsa, including seniors Alex Aney, Timofey Stepanov and Lenn Luemkemann, along with junior Paris Pouatcha.

Stepanov is the only Golden Bear to be ranked in both singles and doubles according to the latest ITA Rankings. Ranked No. 59 nationally, Stepanov will compete in the main draw of singles, which begin Wednesday. He is the first Golden Bear to qualify directly into the singles main draw since Theo Dean in 2024. Stepanov will also team up with Aney in doubles qualifying, which begins Monday. The duo finished 6-3 together last spring.

Pouatcha will be the only non-senior competing in Tulsa. He will team up with Luemkemann in doubles pre-qualifying, which starts Saturday. Pouatcha ended his 2025-26 campaign, going 21-9 in singles and 23-6 in doubles. Both Pouatcha and Luemkemann will also compete in singles pre-qualifying beginning Saturday.