Bears Advance In Qualifier As Season Begins

Derrick Chen won in Battle in the Bay Qualifier singles and doubles on the first day of the season.

MTEN9/15/2023 9:26 PM | By: Dean Caparaz

BERKELEY – The California men’s tennis team placed four Golden Bears in the singles round of 16 and three Cal duos reached the top-flight doubles quarterfinals as the Battle in the Bay Qualifier – and the 2023-24 season – began on Friday at the Hellman Tennis Complex and Channing Tennis Courts.
 
Seven Bears are competing in the tournament, the precursor to the 13th annual Battle in the Bay Classic slated for Sept. 20-24 in San Francisco. Two singles players and one doubles team will qualify in Berkeley to play at the California Tennis Club in the City.
 
Of the four Bears playing in Saturday morning singles quarters, three are freshmen. The veteran who advanced with them is Derrick Chen, who’s seeded third in singles. After a first-round bye, the Cal junior quickly dispatched Nevada’s Gregoire Valente, 6-1, 6-0, in the round of 32. Also earning first-round byes and making their Cal debuts with round of 32 wins were Jonathan Irwanto, Ethan Schiffman and second-seeded Tim Stepanov, who defeated Hawaii’s Andy Hernandez, 7-5, 1-6, 10-4.
 
In the doubles round of 16, the top-seeded pair of Stepanov and Irwanto beat San Francisco’s Davide Cortimiglia and Giovanni Branchetti, 8-5, the fourth-seeded Aney and Kim defeated Ryan Torres and Sam De Vries of UC Davis, 8-4, and the team of Chen and Mikey Wright bested USF’s Sam Edgar and Asaf Friedler, 8-5.
 
The Battle in the Bay qualifier continues Saturday, with the doubles quarterfinals starting at 9 a.m. PT
 
Battle in the Bay Classic
Sept. 15, 2023, Berkeley
Hellman Tennis Complex/Channing Tennis Courts
 
Cal Results
 
Singles
 
Round of 64
Mikey Wright (Cal) def. Thibaud Maxant (SMC), 6-3, 6-3
Alex Aney (Cal), Bye
[3] Derrick Chen (Cal), Bye
Jonathan Irwanto (Cal), Bye
John Kim (Cal), Bye
Ethan Schiffman (Cal), Bye
[2] Tim Stepanov (Cal), Bye
 
Round of 32
Ethan Schiffman (Cal) def. Mathis Moysan (SMC), 4-6, 6-4, 11-9
[8] Roi Ginat (ASU) def. Mikey Wright (Cal), 6-2, 7-5
Pedro Liborio (Nevada) def. John Kim (Cal), 7-5, 6-3
[3] Derrick Chen (Cal) def. Gregoire Valente (Nevada), 6-1, 6-0
Jonathan Irwanto (Cal) def. Remy Tregoures (Nevada), 6-7(5), 6-2, 11-9
Daniel…