SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Portland men's tennis senior Mathieu Garcia opened his fall season with a straight sets win against San Francisco's Ryan Marker in the first round of the Battle in the Bay Classic hosted at the California Club. Garcia advances and will face nationally-ranked Walker Duncan of Georgia in the Round of 16 on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Garcia cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory versus Marker on Friday afternoon. In the morning he teamed up with Pepperdine's Maxwell Mendelsohn in the doubles draw, but the duo fell to Hawaii teammates by an 8-5 margin.

Duncan entered the Oracle/ITA Preseason Rankings at No. 101 this fall and defeated Dominic Barretto of California in straight sets on Friday. Saturday morning's winner will then play a quarterfinals match at 2 pm. in the afternoon. Selected courts will have live video streamed throughout the weekend.

"Mathieu had a very nice win at the home court of one of San Francisco's top players," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "He has a great opportunity tomorrow against a good player from Georgia. Coupled with Mike's success at the ITA Masters, it has been an exciting weekend for Pilot tennis at some marquee events."

The Battle in the Bay Classic regularly features nationally ranked players and storied programs. This year's tournament includes xx players in the preseason singles rankings

Garcia competed at the event last year and posted two impressive wins in straight sets to reach the Round of 16 before falling to USC's Robbie Bellamy.

Battle in the Bay Classic
San Francisco, Calif. (California Club)
Sept. 22-24, 2017

Singles
32 Mathieu Garcia (POR) def. Ryan Marker (USF) 6-2, 6-3
16 Mathieu Garcia (POR) vs. #101 Walker Duncan (UGA) Saturday, 10:30 AM

Doubles
16 Lucas Labrunie/Blaz Seric (HAW) def. Garcia (POR)/Mendelsohn (PEP) 8-5