Not-so-sweet 16: Kikuchi, Overbeck falter at NCAA Doubles Championship

It all came down to this tournament. At the end of a season marked by high peaks and low valleys, No. 51 Cal men’s tennis had one final chance to make an imprint on the world of college tennis. The squad was represented by the No. 28 duo in the country: senior Yuta Kikuchi and freshman Carl Emil Overbeck at the NCAA Doubles Championships in Urbana, Illinois.

Kikuchi and Overbeck opened up the tournament with a comeback win over the No. 70 team, freshman Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and senior Francisco Rocha, from Middle Tennessee State University. After dropping the first set 4-6 and facing two breaks of serve and two match points in the second set, Kikuchi and Overbeck stormed back to win the second set 7-6 (6) and the deciding tiebreaker 10-7.

“We could have had better energy in the beginning of the match,” Overbeck said. “We both know that we have decent returns, so we always have a chance to break. We just made them play and stayed at it and it went our way.”

With the win, Kikuchi and Overbeck would advance to the round of 16, where the two would go on to face the No. 33 duo of brothers, junior Maxence and senior Charles Bertimon, from VCU. The brothers made it to the round of 16 after upsetting the tournament’s No. 1 seeded duo, TCU sophomore Jake Fearnley and junior Luc Fomba, 6-3, 6-7, 10-7, in the first round.

Kikuchi and Overbeck had their work cut out for them as they started against the Bertimon brothers. The first part of the match was played outdoors, and Kikuchi and Overbeck took a 3-2 lead before the match was moved indoors as a result of bad weather conditions. The Bear duo did not fare so well indoors –– the two lost in straight sets, 6-7(5) and 4-6.

Despite failing to advance to the quarterfinals, head coach Kris Kwinta describes the tournament experience as a positive one for the duo.

“We started off really well, played really inspired, fun and energized tennis (against VCU). We just didn’t take our chances early, let them back in the first set and it cost us,” Kwinta said. “Incredible experience for the guys, especially for Carl who hasn’t been in the NCAA tournament.”

The blue and gold has a bright future ahead –– the team’s youth allowed them to grow and mature as competitors for the upcoming seasons. The squad will also get their number one singles player, Kikuchi, back for one more year.

“I’m excited to graduate from Cal and to come back for one more year. I’m really excited to work with Kris and (assistant coach) Francis (Sargeant) but not with Carl,” Kikuchi said to which Overbeck replied with an audible gasp of feigned outrage.

“He’s an incredible character and a warrior, so we’re just lucky to have him for one more year. Hopefully he will keep teaching Carl how to play good doubles like he’s been doing,” Kwinta said. “Make sure you put that quote in!”

As much as Kwinta and Kikuchi like having fun with the freshman, it is clear that Cal men’s tennis is serious about raising the level of its program to new heights. The program has not won a Pac-12 championship since 1953, and Kwinta is looking to change that.

Abhi Erra covers men’s tennis. Contact him at [email protected].