Hard-charging Jonas Ziverts finds success at the net; Wildcats welcome top frosh

Clancy Shields was always split on the value of having a fifth-year senior.

But when you have a student-athlete like Jonas Ziverts — who arrived in Tucson in January 2019 — returning, it’s an easy sell.

Ziverts, who was ranked No. 32 in the nation by ITA last month, is already considered one of UA’s top players in program history.

This year should be extra special for both Ziverts and Shields.

“So far this year, just going on the three trips I’ve gone on with him and spending more time with him, it’s just been a really sweet time for me,” Shields said. “Something I always do treasure because that’s really why we do this is relationships. Getting to know these guys at a more intimate level and really know what they want to do with their life. What motivates them and inspires them and really their senior year you really get to know them on that level. Kind of having two senior years makes it even more special.”

Ziverts helped lead the Wildcats to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 run in 2021. During his Wildcats career, Ziverts has beaten the No. 12 player in the country, Stanford’s Axel Geller; became the first Wildcat to play in the NCAA Singles Championships in 13 years; and earned ITA Southwest Rookie of the Year. Last year alone, Zivers beat the nation’s top singles player, San Diego’s August Holgrem, in three sets. The Wildcat was also named first-team All-Pac-12 and an ITA Scholar Athlete.

Ziverts is having a successful fall. In September, he advanced to the finals of the Battle of the Bay tournament before falling to TCU’s Jacob Fearnley, 6-4, 7-5.

Shields says Ziverts has taken a jump over the offseason. For starters, the senior is charging the net more.

“I’ve enjoyed watching him get out of his comfort zone and and come to the net,” Shields said. “Back was tennis was beginning and the wooden rackets, you had to come to the net to finish points. But now technology has changed: the rackets are more powerful and the strings are more powerful. Players don’t feel the need to come to the net. But certainly he’s added that dimension to his game — to come forward to finish at the net, to take risk. And that’s been a big part of his success this fall.”

Freshmen bring new energy

Arizona brought in the No. 11 recruiting class in the country with the addition of Jay Friend (Tokyo), Eric Padgham (Australia) and Dominique Rolland (Los Angeles).

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Each of the freshmen have beaten top players. Friend also won the Wildcat Invitational in September.

“Jay is really exciting player. He’s super fun to watch. He’s energetic. He’s got a live arm. He great athlete,” Shields said. “Eric Padgham ... the kid can hit like 140mph serve. It’s a beautiful thing to watch. He’s a great athlete, a really tremendous doubles player. I think Australian players, they just practice a lot more doubles over there. And we’ve seen that, so far this season. And then Dominique ... same thing. To have freshmen coming in and beating elite players from top programs around the country is really, really good for us and it shows our depth is really strong and that these kids were the real deal.”

Double duty

While most of the team was in Boston for Chowderfest over the weekend of Sept. 23, Shields, Ziverts and Gustaf Strom traveled to San Francisco for Battle of the Bay. This was the first time Shields had planned two tournaments for the same time.

UA associate head coach Bryce Warren and volunteer coach Mateus Ceolin traveled to Boston with the team. Shields followed the east-coast matches with the help of technology.

“They always started their matches around 9 a.m., so I just got on my iPad at 6 a.m. and would watch the matches,” Shields said. “It’s fun to see (Warren and Ceolin) on-court coaching and and our players playing. I just watched from a video camera. and that’s the nice thing with technology is that you can actually see some other things that maybe being on the court you couldn’t see. We were talking every night and talking about the players, what they can do and some improvements they can make. But certainly, those two were doing a great job coaching out in Boston.”

Deep and talented

After three years in the top 20, Shields thinks the Wildcats are in a position to move up. The difference now is depth.

Four Wildcats were ranked by ITA in the preseason Top 125: Ziverts (32), Strom (46), Herman Hoeyeraal (77) and Colton Smith (86). Only a handful of teams in the country have four players ranked.

“That’s a big confidence-booster when you walk on the court and the opposing team has to look and see, ‘Oh shoot, every individual player and Arizona’s team is ranked and they’re really good, really good players,” Shields said.