In a battle of two of the west coast’s top men’s tennis programs, Arizona earned a decisive victory over San Diego Friday afternoon in Tucson.
No. 14 Wildcats swept No. 7 San Diego 4-0 to improve to 10-1 on the season. A packed crowd filled LaNelle Robson Tennis Center to see Arizona secure its fourth straight victory.
Arizona opened the match by winning the doubles point. Arizona’s pair of Inaki Cabrera-Bello and Colton Smith upset the No. 1 doubles pair in the country, defeating San Diego’s Stian Klaassen and Oliver Tarvet 6-2.
Robson is poppin’ ☀️ pic.twitter.com/gIoukibT7J
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) February 21, 2025
Arizona’s No. 63 pair Jay Friend and Eric Padgham defeated USD’s Savriyan Danilov and Iiro Vasa 6-1 to help clinch the point.
Arizona then cruised through singles play to complete the sweep.
A highly anticipated draw between two top ranked singles players, Arizona’s No. 3 Smith and San Diego’s No. 4 Tarvet, ended prematurely when Tarvet conceded by way of medical retirement. Smith was leading Tarvet 4-1 at the time.
Alexander Rozin secured Arizona its third point with a straight set over the Toreros’ Neo Niedner.
Arizona’s No. 8 Friend clinched the match by taking down San Diego’s No. 44 Danilov 7-6 (7-2), 6-0.
THAT’S A MATCH CATS
Jay gets it done on two v. #44 Danilov 7-6, 6-0 #ArizonaTennis x #CultureWins pic.twitter.com/YB0V3DkghF
— Arizona Men’s Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) February 21, 2025
Arizona coach Clancy Shields praised the team’s preparation and energy.
“The message all week was ‘two dogs, one bone.’ And I think we were the hungrier dog today,” Shields said.
post-match reacts with @CoachShieldsUA and seniors Iñaki Cabrera-Bello & Colton Smith! ️ pic.twitter.com/GonvPWWuqR
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) February 21, 2025
Arizona has now won back-to-back matches over top 25 opponents after beating No. 25 Pepperdine earlier this month.
Arizona is back in action next week when it travels to Tempe for the Diablo Invite, Feb. 28-March 1.
Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics