Bears Reach Quarters in Cal Nike Invitational

BERKELEY – With top-seeded and fourth-ranked Zsofi Susanyi leading the way, five Golden Bears advanced to the quarterfinal round on the first day of the Cal Nike Invitational held on the California campus. Susanyi, a junior, beat Santa Clara’s Chelby Cooke, 6-3, 6-0, in the Blue Singles flight round of 32 and then topped Pacific’s Iveta Masarova  6-2, 6-2, at the Hellman Tennis Complex to reach the quarterfinals, slated for Saturday at Hellman.

Action also took place at the Channing Tennis Courts and at the Hearst Tennis Courts.

Four Bears reached the quarterfinals in the Blue Singles flight, with Cal senior Anett Schutting – the No. 2 seed and the nation’s fifth-ranked singles player – knocking off San Jose State’s Gaelle Rey, 6-2, 6-2, in the round of 32 and then toppling UC Santa Barbara’s Kiersten Meehan, 6-1, 6-2. Sixth-seeded and 23rd-ranked Cal sophomore Klara Fabikova beat Armstrong Atlantic State’s Clara Perez, 6-2, 6-2, in the round of 32 before surviving a three-set match against USC’s Ellie Yates, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(6), in the next round. Seventh-seeded sophomore Lynn Chi lost just five games en route to advancing to the quarters, as the 44th-ranked Bear ousted UCSB’s April Scatliffe, 6-0, 6-1, and Fresno State’s Sophie Watts, 6-4, 6-0.

In the Gold Singles flight, Cal senior Alice Duranteau beat Nevada’s Sheila Smiley, 6-1, 6-2, and then upset BYU’s fifth-seeded Savannah Ware, 6-3, 7-5, to reach the Gold quarterfinals.

Three Cal pairs also reached the quarters in doubles. The top-seeded and 11th-ranked duo of Chi and Schutting made quick work of Fresno State’s Anneka Watts and Sophie Watts, 8-0, in the Blue Doubles round of 16. On the other end of the Blue bracket, the second-seeded and 25th-ranked team of Fabikova/Susanyi beat San Francisco’s Andrea Ka/Sofia Holmberg, 8-1.

In the Gold flight, the pair of Duranteau/junior Cecilia Estlander defeated Gauchos Melissa Baker and Priscilla Garcia, 8-4, in the round of 16. Cal senior Kelly Chui teamed up with USF’s Milica Hadzi-Tanovic, but they lost, 8-4, to Armstrong Atlantic State’s Marlen Hacke/Olga Kalodzitsa, 8-4.

The three-day tournament continues on Saturday.