With a boisterous standing-room only crowd on hand at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in the heart of the UA campus Friday โ it was a group that included members of the Arizona football team on hand in a show of solidarity for their Wildcat brethren's efforts to dispatch UCLA one last time in Tucson โ the No. 18 UA men's tennis team blew through the Bruins for a 4-0 sweep.
UA coach Clancy Shields said prior to the match how big this weekend was for his program.
That's not only because of the tennis itself, with Arizona relishing the chance to take down No. 26 UCLA Friday with a home matchup against No. 9 USC still to come Sunday; it also happens to be the last time the Bruins and Trojans are scheduled to compete in Tucson, with both school's athletic programs departing the Pac-12 for the Big Ten after next season.
Shields also asked pre-match for a big crowd this weekend. He got what he wanted Friday, as the packed house saw Arizona's tandems of Nick Lagaev/Colton Smith and Eric Padgham/Gustaf Strom win their doubles matches to secure the first point for the Wildcats.
In a show of Wildcat solidarity, members of the Arizona football team were on hand March 31, 2023, as the No. 18 Arizona men's tennis team defeated UCLA at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center. Video courtesy Arizona Athletics (via Twitter)
It was a boulder rolling downhill at that point for Arizona, with all three of the Wildcats' secured singles wins coming in straight sets. Jonas Ziverts defated UCLA's Giacomo Revelli (6-2, 6-2), Strom defeated Aadarsh Tripathi (6-2, 6-1) and Dominique Rolland outlasted Stefan Leustian (6-4, 6-1).
That's not to say the match wasn't tight, even with the 4-0 final result; the Wildcats likely needed every last set win they got, in reality.
Arizona's lead doubles tandem of Jay Friend and Zivertz fell to UCLA's Timothy Li and Giacomo Revelli (7-5); additionally, in singles play, the three matches that hadn't finished were all virtual dead heats when play was called due to Arizona reaching that magic number of four victories.
The Wildcats improved to 16-4 overall on the season, and 2-1 in Pac-12 play. UCLA is now 8-5 overall, and 0-1 in Pac-12 action.
They also remain undefeated at home with the Trojans in Tucson later this weekend. USC (11-5, 1-0) blitzed ASU Friday in Tempe, 6-1. Sunday's match is set to begin at 1 p.m.
