For the first time in program history, Arizona men’s tennis has a national champion.
Senior Jay Friend won the ITA Men’s All-American singles championship on Sunday in Tulsa, Okla., defeating Ohio State’s Aidan Kim in a matchup of two of the top players in college tennis.
Friend, the No. 5 ranked player nationally, defeated No. 7 Ozan Baris
of Michigan State, No. 9 Dylan Dietrich of Virginia, and No. 4 Kim to take the crown.“What Jay just accomplished is the pinnacle of college tennis — winning the All-American
Championship, one of the most prestigious national titles in our sport,” Arizona coach Clancy Shields said. “He capped off the event beating 3 top 10 opponents and became the first national champion in Arizona program history. I couldn’t be more proud of Jay, his process throughout the 8 day event, and the quality of his play the last couple days.”
Friend defeated Kim with a convincing 6-2, 6-4 result Sunday, a day after beating Dietrich in a three-set tiebreaker.
Friend will represent Arizona at the NCAA Individual Championships Nov. 19–24 in Orlando, Fla.
The Tokyo native is coming a stellar summer in which he won three gold medals at the FISU World University Games.
By earning the ITA championship, Friend joins an illustrious group of past ITA winning including John Isner and Ben Shelton.
