The Cal men’s tennis team ended its fall season with an overall dominating performance at the St. Mary’s Invitational last weekend. Freshman Christoffer Konigsfeldt won the singles draw, two other Bears players made the singles semifinals, and it was an all-Cal doubles final (before rain delays canceled it). Yet, the Bears don’t have another tournament or match until Jan. 16 against Southern Methodist.

“It’s difficult to go two to two-and-a-half months without a real competitive match,” junior Zach Gilbert said.

Coach Peter Wright said that the offseason is an opportunity for players to rest and get healthy for spring season. They will also, of course, hit the books so they can win the Newmark Award — presented to the sports team with the highest GPA — for the second consecutive semester.

But the Bears are going to play plenty of tennis, too.

Some of the players plan on participating in local, non-ITA affiliated tournaments. In addition, even though Cal does not have any official practices with Wright until January, the team will, as always, practice on its own. Only this year won’t be as lackadaisical as previous years.

“Last couple of years (our practice) was not quite serious enough … we played lots of mini tennis,” Gilbert said. “Don’t slack off before spring. This year, it’s our goal to make it more like real practice.”

With the determined, no-nonsense Pedro Zerbini running practice, Cal should be ready for the dual season.

“Were going to keep working hard, practice two to two-and-a-half hours a day, three or four times a week,” Zerbini said. “We’ll play a lot of matches, a lot of hitting. We’ll stay in shape, keep healthy. Hopefully, when (the dual season starts), we’ll be playing our best tennis.”