Ron Tong
Ryder Jackson plays his fifth singles match in three days in Tulsa on Monday.
TULSA, Okla. – First-year Golden Bear Ryder Jackson won four times in pre-qualifying singles over the weekend in the ITA All-American Championships to advance to Monday’s qualifying singles field, as the Cal men’s tennis team began play in the national tournament at the Case Tennis Center and LaFortune Park.
Jackson, a junior, won twice on Saturday, and then on Sunday he defeated N.C. State’s Damien Salvestre, 6-2, 6-2 in the round of 64 and beat Wake Forest’s Bozo Barun, 6-1, 6-3, in the round of 32 to become one of the 16 players to move into qualifying singles. On Monday at 11:30 a.m. CT, Jackson will face Illinois-Chicago’s 69th-ranked Aleksa Bucan in the opening qualifying singles round of 128.
“We had good performances by Ryder so far, winning four tough matches and beating some respected opponents,” said Kris Kwinta, Cal’s Peter Wright Director of Men’s Tennis. “I’m looking for more good play in qualifying. The way he’s playing right now and with his confidence building, he can cause some damage. He’s growing as a Bear. It’s fun to see.”
The Bears’ Lucas Magnaudet and Carl Emil Overbeck won their Saturday openers in pre-qualifying play, with Magnaudet defeating North Carolina’s Logan Zapp, 6-2, 7-6(5), and Overeck beating LSU’s Benjamin Ambrosio, 6-3, 6-3. But both Bears fell in the round of 128.
While Derrick Chen and Alex Chang lost in their pre-qualifying singles openers on Saturday, Chang defeated LSU’s Will Cubitt, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5), in a Sunday consolation match.
The Cal doubles pairs of Chen and Jackson and of Magnaudet and Chang had been named to the alternate list for qualifying doubles but ultimately did not earns spots in the 64-team qualifying field.
“Overall we had some guys with good performances in Tulsa,” Kwinta added. “The biggest win for me is to come here, get battle tested and see how guys respond to adversity, to tough conditions and see what they’re made out of. I’m looking for more and to see the Bears keep building up.”
The All-American main draws for singles and doubles start on Wednesday.
Additionally, Cal’s Yuta Kikuchi and Siddhant Banthia competed in recent pro circuit tournaments. Banthia, a…
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