The Cal men’s tennis team has not topped its rival Stanford for a full three years. But for the first time in several years, the Bears will be the favorite on paper.
The Cardinal, which has managed to stay within the top 10 for the past five seasons, just recently dropped from No. 19 to No. 28 in the ITA polls. The Cal team currently stands at No. 12 in the country.
This Sunday at 1 p.m., the Bears will once again take up the heated rivalry against the Cardinal to try to end the three-year drought. After three weeks of competing in away matches, Cal (4-4) will return to play against Stanford (3-4) at the Hellman Tennis Complex this weekend.
Despite playing on their home court and having the numbers on their side, however, the Bears do not expect the victory to come easily for them.
“We definitely have a good chance, but it’s Stanford,” said co-captain Christoffer Konigsfeldt. “Even though they’re not ranked very high right now, they’ve always been good.”
The Bears and the Cardinal had similar situations to start off their seasons. Both squads lost two of their star seniors who consistently took over the top courts. Stanford had to find a way to replace Bradley Klahn and Ryan Thacher, who together amassed a 113-23 career record as a doubles duo.
To make up for its loss of star players, Stanford has been depending on nationally ranked younger members, such as sophomore John Morrissey and freshman Nolan Paige.
However, the Bears boast a greater depth in their lineup, which includes four ranked singles players and two top-25 doubles pairs. Junior Ben McLachlan, Konigsfeldt and junior Campbell Johnson have been holding up the team on the top three courts in the absence of senior co-captain Riki McLachlan, who is out due to a knee injury.
Recently, despite having to restructure their doubles lineup, the Bears have been using doubles to their advantage due to the versatility of their players.
“We’ve had to make a few adjustments, but we have a lot of options and combinations we can still use,” said coach Peter Wright. “Doubles has always been a critical part of every match we play because it sets the tone for the rest of the day.”
Senior Konigsfeldt in particular has his own personal history in playing against Stanford. Three years ago, Cal rebounded from a 3-1 deficit after two Bears managed to top two Cardinal in third-set tiebreakers. With the score at 3-3, it was up to then-freshman Konigsfeldt to put the finishing touches on his third and final set to lead the Bears to a victory.
It was the last time Cal beat Stanford. As a senior, he hopes it will finally happen at this year’s Big Slam, where he is playing at home.
“We definitely want to beat them this weekend, especially with our home crowd watching,” Konigsfeldt said. “We have a lot of good supporters, and they know how to make a lot of noise for us, so we’re really excited for it.”
Janice Chua covers men’s tennis. Contact her at [email protected].