Cal Falls To No. 18 USD 4-1

Ryder Jackson beat USD’s third-ranked Oliver Tarvet in three sets Sunday in Berkeley.

MTEN2/18/2024 4:09 PM | By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – California men’s tennis senior Ryder Jackson upset the nation’s third-ranked singles player Sunday at the Hellman Tennis Complex, but the Golden Bears lost to 18th-ranked San Diego, 4-1.
 
The Bears, who suffered their first home loss of the season and saw their three-match winning streak snapped, have a 3-4 record. USD improved to 6-1.
 
Cal won the first match of the day, with Berkeley natives Mikey Wright and Alex Chang beating USD’s 21st-ranked Stian Klaassen and Sacchitt Sharrma, 6-3, at court-one doubles. But freshmen Bears Alex Aney and Timofey Stepanov fell to Lambert Ruland and Savriyan Danilov, 6-4, on court three. USD clinched the doubles point when Jackson and Jonathan Irwanto lost to Iiro Vasa and Oliver Tarvet, 6-2, on court two.
 
USD took a 2-0 lead when Sharrma beat Cal sophomore John Kim, 6-3, 6-1, in singles. Jackson, who dropped the court-one first set to USD’s third-ranked Oliver Tarvet, won the second set and was leading 3-1 in the third when rain stopped the match.
 
When play resumed about 20 minutes later, Jackson completed his rally, winning 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, and Cal trailed 2-1.
 
USD took a 3-1 lead when Klaassen beat Cal senior Lucas Magnaudet, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
 
Despite the deficit, Cal had its chances to climb back into the match. Wins from Stepanov – whose match moved into a second-set tiebreaker – and Irwanto – playing deep into a third set – could have tied matters at 3-3. But as rain began to fall again, Ruland beat Chang, 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-5 to end the match.
 
“We stepped up, but we stepped up an hour after the start of the match,” said Kris Kwinta, Cal’s Peter Wright Director of Men’s Tennis. “They’re a great team and they’re well-coached, but we were hesitant in doubles, and when you lose five first-sets in singles, it’s hard to dig yourself out of a hole like that.
 
“When the chips were down, we showed up. We just have to do it from the start of the match. But I’m proud of the guys. The young guys stepped up, and that was a big win for Ryder. Everyone was competing hard. We dug ourselves too big of a hole in the beginning and couldn’t come back from it. Good match…