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.
No. 27 Yuta Kikuchi’s five-year college tennis career at Cal ended Monday when the senior fell to TCU’s No. 21 Jake Fearnley in the NCAA singles championship’s opening round of 64.
While the rest of the team left the season behind after the Bears’ early exit in the NCAA team tournament, Cal’s Yuta Kikuchi still has a Herculean task against him: the NCAA singles championship.
After facing 25 opponents, playing 75 doubles and 150 singles matches this spring, Cal men’s tennis finished out its season with a second-round 4-0 loss to No. 7 Michigan at the NCAA championship.