Arizona men's tennis has cycled program-changing players in recent years under head coach Clancy Shields, who's now in his 10th season at the UA.
Among the notable talents to play for the Wildcats: three-time Pac-12 champion Gustaf Strom and most recently Colton Smith, who is considered the greatest player in program history.
The current face of Arizona tennis is senior Jay Friend. The Tokyo native won the ITA All-American Championships title in September. A month later, he won the ATP Challenger title. Friend is currently ranked fourth in the ITA college tennis individual rankings.
The aforementioned players helped Arizona reach four Sweet 16 appearances in the last five years, including three straight from 2023-25.
Arizona could have another rising talent in junior Alexander Rozin. The Toronto product was just named Big 12 Player of the Week after going 3-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles at Hidden Dual in Boca Raton, Florida, last week. Rozin was a Big 12 Tournament champion last season — and a Pac-12 Tournament champion the season prior.
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.
"There's gotta be something in the water in Tucson," Shields said. "These guys just keep coming out of the woodwork and are great players."
The 11th-ranked Wildcats host their first home event of their spring schedule on Monday, when Arizona hosts New Mexico State for a doubleheader at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center. The morning matches begin at 9, with the afternoon slate starting at 3 p.m.
Arizona will host No. 22 Florida State at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Wildcats host FSU, LSU and No. 23 Pepperdine Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Shields joined "Spears & Ali" to discuss Rozin's growth, Friend's success and how the Wildcats have become the "(Curt) Cignetti Warriors." Here's part of the interview:
What has been key to Rozin's growth as a player?
A: "He's playing with a lot of confidence. I think it's one of things where once you see your brothers and teammates do it, you start believing in your heart and say, 'Hey, maybe I can do this?' He's playing with that belief right now, and it's fun to see, because his freshman year, he didn't play at all for us.
Alexander Rozin tracks the ball with his eyes before he hits it during round two of the NCAA Tournament against Harvard at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson, May 3, 2025.
"He sat on the bench and watched his teammates play. He kept his head down, kept working, and now he's one of the better players in the country and could even test our top dog, Jay Friend, for the top spot. It's a healthy competition, and he's a fun player.
"If you're a tennis enthusiast, he plays like Roger Federer; aesthetically beautiful swing and and has a one-handed backhand. He's a fun player to watch. If you're not well-versed in Arizona tennis, this is a guy you're going to enjoy watching this year."
How much has Friend gotten better since he first came to play at Arizona?
A: "So much. ... It's so cool, because of Colton's success, he was living in the shadow, but he had an unbelievable year that no one was really talking about. He finished the season ninth in the country. When Colton was off playing in professional events, we called it the Colton-less Cats. The guys were awesome, and Jay took the No. 1 spot when Colton was gone and went 11-0.
"He's an unbelievable kid, fun to watch. He won the (Summer World University Games) in Germany. His resume is filled with so many incredible achievements. What I find most impressive is he's the greatest supporter of our team. This past weekend, he didn't play, but he was the loudest guy in the building, supporting his brothers.
Jay Friend shakes hands with the referee after winning his doubles game against Harvard in Round 2 of the NCAA Tournament at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson, May 3, 2025.
"When you genuinely want success for your teammates in your heart, it comes back to you. He's done an unbelievable job of doing that here. ... This is someone we're going to be watching on TV very shortly at the grand slam."
What has been the most rewarding part about building up the UA tennis program over the last 10 years?
A: "This is my 10th season, and I'm the second-longest tenured behind (Arizona men's golf head coach Jim Anderson). For me, it's gone by so fast and it's been such a fun time of my life. Building the program was so much fun, because we hadn't won a match in the Pac-12 in five years, we were ranked 160th in the country when I took over.
"Building the framework was fun, it was challenging and it was difficult work. Now we're at a point where we're trying to sustain success and push the envelope of what we can do. For me, I just try to step back from the results and try to develop these kids from a tennis standpoint and a character standpoint. The team part, I think we do that better than anybody.
Arizona head coach Clancy Shields talks to Jay Friend and Eric Padgham during their doubles game against Harvard in Round 2 of the NCAA Tournament at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson on May 3, 2025.
"I would stack up how we build culture and build teams and stack it up against anybody. If you want sustained success, culture is everything. That's our slogan here: 'culture wins.' We don't focus on one or two guys, we focus on our culture and standard.
"It's funny, I've got a lot of international guys on our team and back in September, I started calling the guys 'Cignetti Warriors.' I was joking, because we don't have the most talented recruits and five-stars.
"We have guys that are one or two levels below, but we talked about what they did in their program. ... Some of the things that they do there are some of the fundamental things that we have in our program."
