Health issues once again plagued the Cal men’s tennis team this weekend at the ITA National Indoor Championships.
Just one week after losing senior co-captain Riki McLachlan to a knee injury, the Bears lost two more players to injury to start off singles play on Friday. Although the injuries were not long-term, sophomore Chase Melton and junior Ben McLachlan fell in their Friday matches due to a shoulder and a knee injury, respectively.
On the first day of play, No. 13 Cal lost to No. 4 Ohio State, 4-0, in the first round of the tournament at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle, Wash.
In singles, the Buckeyes swiftly carved out an early 3-0 lead once McLachlan and Melton lost their matches on courts one and six. Melton suffered a shoulder injury in the middle of the match against Ohio State’s Hunter Callaghan, ultimately losing in two sets.
On the top court, McLachlan suffered a locked knee near the start of the second set and eventually retired before finishing his second set at 4-2.
“There’s no way to really prevent injuries like that from happening,” Cal coach Peter Wright said. “It’s just one of those random things that we’re trying to work through in strength and form, but when it happens, we have to default the match.”
On Saturday, the Cal squad rebounded when its top two players McLachlan and Konigsfeldt both won their last sets to clinch the overall match against No. 11 Florida.
Although Ben McLachlan took an early lead on the top court, Florida’s Bob van Overbeek pushed the first set to a tiebreaker. The tiebreaker lasted 30 points before van Overbeek finally took a two-point advantage to claim the first set.
Despite losing the back-and-forth battle in the first set, McLachlan came back with a vengeance to dominate the second and third sets to clinch the overall match for the Bears, 4-1.
“Ben was in control to start off the first set, and then it just slipped away from him,” Wright said. “Losing a very long tiebreaker can be quite frustrating, but he didn’t allow his emotions to get in the way and he found a way to fight back.”
On Sunday, after Cal and No. 8 Oklahoma battled through several tight matches, the score was locked at 3-3. The results from the court six singles match between Nikhil Jayashankar and Sooners’ Nick Papac determined the outcome of the overall match. Although Jayashankar, playing in only his second dual match of the year, fought back to win the second set, Papac ultimately claimed the victory for Oklahoma, 4-3.
Despite ending the weekend with a 1-2 record, Wright believes that the Bears’ performance against the No. 8 and No. 11 teams in the country reflects a high level of play, considering the injuries the team has encountered recently.
Cal will return to Hellman and prepare this week to face off against No. 19 Stanford in the Big Slam this weekend.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for us in terms of losing guys to injuries,” Wright said. “But I think we bounced back extremely well yesterday and today, and although we’re not a top-10 team yet, we’re certainly knocking at the door.”
Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at [email protected].