Cal Falls At No. 7 Arizona 4-1

Alex Chang briefly tied Friday’s match at Arizona 1-1 with his win at court-two singles.

MTEN3/29/2024 5:30 PM | By: Cal Athletics

TUCSON, Ariz.– The 59th-ranked California men’s tennis team claimed a singles win from Alex Chang but fell to seventh-ranked Arizona, 4-1, Friday at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.
 
Chang upset the Wildcats’ 26th-ranked Jay Friend, 6-4, 6-1, at court-two singles to briefly tie the dual match 1-1.
 
The Pac-12 Conference loss left the Bears with a 7-7 record (2-1 Pac-12). The Wildcats improved to 17-2 (3-0).
 
Cal trailed 1-0 after Arizona nabbed a narrow victory in doubles. The Wildcats’ Herman Hoeyeraal and Eric Padgham beat Lucas Magnaudet and Timofey Stepanov, 6-3, on court two in the first completed match of the day. Then, with Bears Carl Emil Overbeck and Qian Sun trailing Sasha Rozin and Gustaf Strom, 6-5, on court three, Cal’s 12th-ranked tandem of Chang and Mikey Wright fell to the 24th-ranked duo of Friend and Colton Smith, 7-5, on court one to seal the doubles point for Arizona.

“We came out firing and together,” said Kris Kwinta, Cal’s Peter Wright Director of Men’s Tennis. “We’ve been doing this the past two weeks, and it’s been working. We’re a different team, to be honest. It was great to see the guys coming out firing and putting ourselves in position to win the doubles point. The doubles point was key. Going 1-0 down to an opponent like that at their home makes it tough but not impossible. Everybody was fighting their tails off.”

 

Chang – last week’s Pac-12 Player of the Week – rebounded in singles, besting Friend on court two to tie the conference contest.

 

But Arizona won twice in straight sets to take a 3-1 lead. The last three matches all went to three sets, and the Wildcats ultimately clinched their win when Nick Lagaev topped Magnaudet, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, on court five.

“Alex Chang got a good win to put us on the scoreboard,” Kwinta said. “We took three first sets in singles, which was great to see. But Arizona gives you nothing for free, and there were no easy matches. They won at courts six and four, and they were up 3-1, but we still had a chance. We had to win all three third sets at the end, but that’s tough to do against a tough, well-coached team. Everybody played hard and we didn’t play our…