Arizona senior Jay Friend continued to make a splash on the professional men’s tennis circuit by winning his first ATP Challenger title Sunday.
That victory came on the heels of Friend winning the ITA All-American Championship last month.
Arizona’s Jay Friend celebrates after scoring the winning point against Harvard in Round 2 of the NCAA Tournament at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center on May 3, 2025.
Friend’s latest title came in the Grossman-Kennedy/LWH Solano Challenger in Fairfield, California. After earning his way into the main draw through qualifying, Friend won five consecutive matches. He defeated Australian Edward Winter, a junior at Pepperdine, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2 in Sunday’s final.
“Jay has shown tremendous growth over the past year — not just in his tennis, but in his maturity and approach to competition,” UA coach Clancy Shields said in a news release. “Winning the ITA All-American and now an ATP Challenger back to back is incredibly rare. It’s a testament to his work ethic, belief and the culture our program continues to build. We couldn’t be prouder of him.”
A native of Tokyo, Friend saw his ATP world ranking jump from 743 to 480 after securing the victory in the Challenger event.
Friend earned first-team All-American and Academic All-American honors as a junior last season, advancing to the NCAA singles quarterfinals and helping the Wildcats win the Big 12 Tournament championship.
