Arizona men’s tennis makes historic leap to Elite Eight

TUCSON — Arizona men’s tennis has reached a milestone that’s been decades in the making: advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

What was billed as a nail-biter between No. 8 Arizona and No. 9 Oklahoma lived up to its hype on Saturday afternoon at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.

The Wildcats clawed back from a steep 3–1 deficit to win 4–3, with the clinching point coming from senior star Jay Friend, the program’s all-time leader in singles victories.

Things didn’t start in Arizona’s favor. The Wildcats dropped the doubles point and quickly lost the first singles match, finding themselves trailing 2–0. But grit has defined this Arizona squad all season, and they showed it again.

Junior Sasha Rozin kept the comeback hopes alive, grinding out two tiebreak sets to make it 3–2. Freshman Alejandro Arcilo then secured a three-set thriller on Court 5, 6–4, 4–6, 6–4, tying the match at three apiece and setting the stage for Friend’s heroics.

After taking the first set in a tiebreaker, Friend shook off a tense second set and stormed through the final frame 6–0, igniting a celebration from his teammates and the home crowd.

Head coach Clancy Shields has guided the Wildcats to multiple “firsts” in his tenure, but this Elite Eight berth marks the program’s most significant breakthrough yet.

Arizona now faces its toughest challenge of the tournament: a showdown against top-seeded and defending national champion Wake Forest on Thursday in Athens, Georgia.