When Arizona staged a Sweet 16 tennis match against Oklahoma on Saturday, the Wildcats and Sooners had a combined 17 players on their rosters. Only two are from America.
The other 15 are from Japan (2), Israel, France, Spain, Mozambique, Colombia (2), Slovenia, Sweden (2), Serbia, Canada (2) and Ukraine. Welcome to the elite level of college tennis, 2026.
I checked the rosters of fellow Sweet 16 competitors Ohio State, Illinois, UCF and Texas and discovered that just 11 of the 40 roster spots are occupied by those who grew up in America. The game has changed mightily through the years.
UA coach Clancy Shields has turned Arizona into a Top 16 program by recruiting globally. I was not paying attention when American high school tennis stopped producing John McEnroes and Jimmy Connors'. Shields produced a rarity last year when UA All-American Colton Smith was recruited from the Seattle area. The UA's No. 1 player this year, Jay Friend, is from Japan.
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Jay Friend hits a forehand during a doubles match against NAU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson on May 1, 2026.
When Arizona was a Top 10 program from 1960-72, Hall of Fame coach Dave Snyder built around Tucsonans such as All-Americans Bill Lenoir of Tucson High, Robb Salant and Eric Evett of Catalina High.
Tucson high schools have produced more than 30 state singles tennis champions since 1980, but only Sabino's Mike Lee (1980), and Palo Verde's Carlos Bermudez (2010) became starters on Arizona's tennis team. Others, such as Rincon's three-time state champ Sudhakar Kosaraju, went to Harvard, Salpointe's Tommy McGeorge to Iowa and Salpointe's Yash Parikh to Davidson.
It's not 1970 anymore.
The more UA tennis star Jay Friend succeeded, the more he believed in himself | Michael Lev
