Wayne Wong Advances to Finals of Invitational Draw at Pac-10s

April 26, 2003

Ojai, Calif. - With senior All-American John Paul Fruttero dropping his semifinal match of the main draw, Cal's junior Wayne Wong grabbed the spotlight, defeating teammate Mik Ledvonova to advance to the finals of the invitational draw of the 2003 Pac-10 Championships in Ojai, Calif. Wong is joined by the Or Dekel/Robert Kowalczyk doubles tandem in vying for their respective titles.

Wong advanced to the semifinals with a hard-fought 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5) victory over UCLA's #114 Lassi Ketola, earning a date with teammate Mik Ledvonova. The two Cal players traded victories in the first two sets, but Ledvonova retired in the third, handing Wong the victory and a date with UCLA'a Alberto Francis for rights to the invitational crown. Match time is set for 9:30 a.m. Sunday, April 27.

After receiving a first round bye in the main draw, Fruttero survived a three-set scare from #76 Pim Van Mele of Arizona State in the Round of 16, but hung on to record an upset victory, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2, and a date in the quarterfinals. His opponent, Washington's #27 Matt Hanlin had defeated Stanford's James Pade to advance to the quarters, but Fruttero took care of the Husky with a 6-4, 6-1 upset victory. Fruttero's storybook run was ended, however, by UCLA's #26 Marcin Matkowski, whom advanced to the title match against Washington's #18 Alex Vlaski.

In the consolation back draw, seniors Jeff King and Kevin Patrick were both ousted in the first round once again after being defeated in the first round of invitational action, but redshirt freshman Dean Wallace and sophomore Patirck Briaud both rebounded with victories. Wallace completed a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Chris Gessner of Arizona and Briaud shut down Washington's Scott Felsenthal 6-1, 6-1, to set up an all-Cal Round of 16 meeting with Wallace.

In doubles action, the Bears still had teams represented in the invitational draw as well as the back draw. In only their fifth match together this season, Or Dekel and Robert Kowalczyk advanced to the finals of the invitational draw with an 8-4 victory over UCLA's Lassi Ketola and Aaron Yovan. The victory sets up an all Bay Area final as the Cal duo squares off against Stanford's Carter Morris and Sam Warburg at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

In the doubles back draw, King and Patrick lost to Oregon's Jason Menke and Aaron Spencer, 8-3.

Through the first three days of action, the Bears record vs. Pac-10 opponents is as follows: 3-6 vs. UCLA, 0-1 vs. USC, 1-2 vs. Stanford, 2-1 vs. Washington, 3-1 vs. Oregon, 4-0 vs. Arizona and 2-1 vs. Arizona State. In doubles play, Cal is 1-2 vs. Oregon, 1-0 vs. UCLA, 0-1 vs. USC, 0-1 vs. Arizona and 1-0 vs. Stanford.

Complete tournament results can be found at www.tennisinformation.com or www.ojaitourney.org.

CALIFORNIA RESULTS:

SINGLES: MAIN DRAW
Round of 32  -- Thursday, April 24, 2003
John Paul Fruttero (Cal) v. bye
#40 Conor Niland (Cal) d. Chris Stewart (ASU), 6-1, 6-1
Or Dekel (Cal) d. Oded Tieg (OR), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
#48 Robert Kowalczyk (Cal) d. Paul Warkentin (AZ), 6-3, 6-3
Round of 16 - Thursday, April 24, 2003
John Paul Fruttero d. #76 Pim Van Mele (ASU), 7-6, 2-6, 6-2
Rodrigo Grilli (UCLA) d. #40 Conor Niland (Cal), 6-3, 6-3
#56 Scott Lipsky (Stan) d. Or Dekel (Cal), 6-4, 6-4
#12 David Martin (Stan) d. #48 Robert Kowalczyk (Cal), 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
Quarterfinals - Friday, April 25, 2003
John Paul Fruttero (Cal) d. #27 Matt Hanlin (UW), 6-4, 6-1
Semifinals - Saturday, April 26, 2003
#26 Marcin Matkowski (UCLA) d. John Paul Fruttero (Cal), 6-2, 6-4

SINGLES: INVITATIONAL DRAW
Round of 32 Invitational - Thursday, April 24, 2003
#110 Balazs Veress (Cal) v. bye
Alberto Francis (UCLA) d. Dean Wallace (Cal), 6-1, 7-6(2)
Chris Surapol (UCLA) d. Jeff King (Cal), 6-2, 6-4
Steve Berke (Cal) v. bye
Parker Collins (USC) d. Kevin Patrick (Cal), 6-2, 6-1
Mik Ledvonova (Cal) d. Chris Gessner (AZ), 6-0, 6-1
Wayne Wong (Cal) d. Chris King (OR), 6-2, 6-1
Peter Scharler (UW) d. Patrick Briuad (Cal), 6-3, 6-3
Round of 16 Invitational - Thursday, April 24, 2003
#110 Balazs Veress (Cal) d. Jason Menke (UO), 6-3, 6-2
Steve Berke (Cal) d. Daniel Andrus (AZ), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
Mik Ledvonova (Cal) d. Aaron Yovan (UCLA), 6-4, 6-3
Wayne Wong (Cal) d. Travis Kinard (UCLA), 6-3, 6-2
Quarterfinals Invitational - Friday, April 25, 2003
Alberto Francis (UCLA) d. #110 Balazs Veress (Cal), 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4
Mik Ledvonova (Cal) d. Phil Sheng (STAN), 6-3, 6-2
Chris Surapol (UCLA) d. Steve Berke (Cal), Wd (inj)
Wayne Wong (Cal) d. #114 Lassi Ketola (UCLA), 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5)
Semifinals Invitational - Saturday, April 26, 2003
Wayne Wong (Cal) d. Mik Ledvonova (Cal), 3-6, 7-6, 2-1, Ret (inj)
Finals Invitational - Sunday, April 27, 2003
Wayne Wong (Cal) v. Alberto Francis (UCLA), 9:30 a.m.

SINGLES: BACK DRAW
Round of 32 - Saturday, April 26, 2003
Chris King (OR) d. Jeff King (Cal), 6-2, 6-2
Olivier Charroin (ASU) d. Kevin Patrick (Cal), 6-0, 6-2
Dean Wallace (Cal) d. Chris Gessner (AZ), 6-4, 6-0
Patrick Briaud (Cal) d. Scott Felsenthal (UW), 6-1, 6-1
Round of 16 - Sunday, April 27, 2003
Dean Wallace (Cal) v. Patrick Briaud (Cal)

DOUBLES: MAIN DRAW
Round of 16 - Friday, April 25, 2003
Briaud/Fruttero (Cal) d. Swinnen/Tieg (UO), 8-1
Bieri/Kost (UO) d. Niland/Veress (Cal), 8-5
Quarterfinals - Friday, April 25, 2003
Collins/Langre (USC) d. Briaud/Fruttero (Cal), 8-5

DOUBLES: INVITATIONAL DRAW
Round of 16 Invitational - Friday, April 25, 2003
Dekel/Kowalczyk (Cal) v. bye
Andrus/Mullane (AZ) d. Wallace/Wong (Cal), 8-4
Quarterfinals Invitational - Friday, April 25, 2003
Dekel/Kowalczyk (Cal) d. Kao/Sheng (Stan), 8-3
Semifinals Invitational - Saturday, April 26, 2003
Dekel/Kowalczyk (Cal) d. Ketola/Yovan (UCLA), 8-4
Finals Invitational - Sunday, April 27, 2003
Dekel/Kowalczyk (Cal) v. Morris/Warburg (Stan), 12:30 p.m.

DOUBLES: BACK DRAW
Jason Menke/Aaron Spencer (OR) d. Jeff King/Kevin Patrick (Cal), 8-3