Tennis

Only one of the seven Bears playing Friday through Sunday qualified for the main draw, but the tournament served another purpose as well: Getting new players acclimated to the world of collegiate tennis.

The Bears will open their season with the Battle in the Bay Qualifier this weekend — a tournament that serves as the qualifier for the Battle in the Bay Classic, hosted annually in San Francisco.

In the top 100 players in the Women’s Tennis Association, or WTA, there are just a handful of singles players who are out, and there are a grand total of zero of openly queer singles top-100 players on the men’s tour.

Capping off a tough season for Cal women’s tennis, the two Bears that made it into the NCAA singles and doubles tournaments ended their short-lived postseason run.

The future of the program looks strong, as two of Cal’s best players — sophomores Katja Wiersholm and Jessica Alsola — find themselves at the USTA campus in Orlando, Florida, preparing for the national championship.

The Bears head to Austin, Texas for the first round of nationals to face San Diego on Friday after finishing out their season with a barely-winning 12-9 record.

After the cancellation of Cal’s match against Pepperdine on Friday, the Bears continue their season Sunday against No. 43 Oregon Ducks, their fourth match in just 10 days.

Despite splitting another pair of Pac-12 weekend matches, the Bears looked confident in LA this weekend. Beating UCLA 5-2 and narrowly losing out to USC 4-3, the Bears seem to be righting the ship.

After a rain-enforced break, Cal women’s tennis is set to come back to the court this weekend, facing two more Pac-12 opponents in USC and UCLA. Cal’s season has been riddled with rain delays and rescheduling, making it hard to get on-court time to prepare for tough matches.

This weekend, Cal traveled to Utah and Colorado to begin Pac-12 play. Going 1-1, the Bears played two impressive matches to improve their overall season record to 4-5.