John Kim and the Bears play twice at Duke this weekend.

MTEN1/25/2024 6:21 PM | By: Cal Athletics

The California men’s tennis team (0-1) plays Middle Tennessee (3-1) on Saturday in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Duke, with the No. 8 Blue Devils (3-0) taking on No. 23 N.C. State (2-1) in Saturday’s other match. The two winners face off Sunday to the right to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
 
Saturday’s match will mark the first meeting between Cal and Middle Tennessee in men’s tennis.
 
ITA Kickoff Weekend
 
Vs. Middle Tennessee
When: Saturday, Jan. 27, 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT
Where: Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, Durham, N.C.
Watch: PlaySight Livestream
Scores: StatBroadcast
 
Vs. Duke/N.C. State
When: Sunday, Jan. 28, TBA
Where: Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center, Durham, N.C.
Watch: PlaySight Livestream
Scores: StatBroadcast
 
Last Time Out: Bears Battle Broncos
Playing on the road in a rescheduled dual-match opener, Cal fell to Santa Clara, 4-3, on Sunday under a cloudy sky at the Degheri Tennis Center.
 
The Broncos (1-0) clinched their victory when Luca Lemaitre defeated Cal freshman Jonathan Irwanto, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(5).
 
The match was originally scheduled for Saturday, but rain forced the postponement.
 
Cal built a 3-1 lead when, after Santa Clara claimed the doubles point, the Golden Bears’ earned three straight singles wins. First Ryder Jackson beat the Broncos’ 102nd-ranked Guillaume Dalmasso, 6-2, 6-3, on court two, then Alex Chang defeated Sebastian Buxman, 6-2, 6-2, on court three and ultimately freshman Timofey Stepanov bested Alexander Eriksson, 6-4, 6-1, on court six.
 
The Bears dropped matches on court five and one to knot the match at 3-3, before the three-setter on court four decided the contest.
 
Bears Split At 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend
Cal fell at No. 6 Texas. 4-1, before topping Florida Atlantic, 4-1, in last season’s ITA Kickoff Weekend in Austin, Texas. The Bears won the doubles point against the Longhorns, with Lucas Magnaudet and Ryder Jackson beating Siem Woldeab and Pierre-Yves Bailly, 7-6(5), to clinch. But Texas won four straight in singles to claim victory.
 
Against FAU, Derrick Chen clinched the win when he defeated Joao Graca, 7-5, 7-5, in singles. Earlier, Siddhant Banthia and Carl Emil Overbeck secured the doubles point with a 6-4 result over the Owls’ Kevin Huempfner and Hunter Robbins.
 
Scouting the Bears

• In the all-time series with Duke, Cal has a 7-2 record, while the Bears are 1-0 vs. N.C. State
• Carl Emil Overbeck, who concluded the first half of the season when he won the singles title at the Jack Kramer Invitational, is 11-7 in singles and 7-4 in doubles
• Overbeck paired with Mikey Wright to beat Santa Clara’s Luca Lemaitre and Tiago Boschmans, 6-2, at court-two doubles on Sunday
• Ryder Jackson improved to 3-1 with his singles win at Santa Clara; he is 3-1 in doubles
• Alex Chang, who reached the singles quarterfinals at last fall’s ITA Northwest Super Regional Championships, is 11-6 in singles and 9-5 in doubles
• First-year Bear Jonathan Irwanto is 14-8 in singles and 7-7 in doubles
• Derrick Chen has a singles record of 11-8 and a doubles mark of 7-7
• Timofey Stepanov improved to 8-9 with his singles win against the Broncos; he’s 9-5 in doubles
• Kris Kwinta (UCLA ’08) is in his third season as the Peter Wright Director of Men’s Tennis
• Francis Sargeant (BYU ’15) is in his third season as a Cal assistant coach
• Former Santa Clara star Vasileios Iliopoulos is in his first season as a Cal assistant coach

Scouting the Blue Raiders

• Middle Tennessee has wins over Presbyterian, 7-0, Tennessee State, 7-0, and Arkansas, 6-1, and a 4-2 loss at Oklahoma State
• Three Blue Raiders are ranked in singles in No. 25 Leo Raquin, No. 47 Marcel Kamrowski and No. 105 Ondrej Horak
• MT went 22-8 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament last season
• Jimmy Borendame is in his 14th year as Middle Tennessee’s head coach

Scouting the Blue Devils

• Duke has beaten VCU, 4-3, Princeton, 4-3 and North Carolina Central, 7-0
• Pedro Rodenas is ranked 21st in singles
• In doubles, Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang are ranked 14th
• Ramsey Smith is in his 16th season as head coach of Duke

Scouting the Wolfpack

• N.C. State beat Northwestern, 6-1, and Princeton, 7-0, before losing at No. 11 Harvard, 6-1, to start the dual-match season
• In singles, Joseph Wayand is ranked 52nd, while Robin Catry is ranked 120th
• Wayand and Martin Borisiouk are ranked 13th in doubles
• Kyle Spencer is in his seventh year as N.C. State’s head coach

Next Time
If Cal wins out in Durham, the Bears will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in New York. Nationals will take place from Feb. 16-19 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Bears return to Berkeley to host UC Santa Barbara at 10 a.m. PT and UC Davis at 3 p.m. PT on Feb. 4 at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
 
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