Arizona men’s and women’s tennis teams selected for NCAA Tournament

Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics

The Arizona men’s and women’s tennis programs are headed back to the NCAA Tournament.

Arizona men’s tennis earned the No. 8 overall seed in this year’s the field, its highest seed in program history. The Wildcats (21-4) will face NAU (12-5) in the opening round on Friday at 1 p.m., then face the winner of Clemson (16-12) and Ole Miss (19-9).

As the No. 8 seed, Arizona would host the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history should it advance past the opening weekend. Arizona has never advanced past the Sweet 16.

WE’RE HOSTING!

For the 4th year in a row, we’re hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament! 😼#ArizonaTennis x #CultureWinspic.twitter.com/TgEE8nM9Od

— Arizona Men's Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) April 27, 2026

Clancy Shields’ program is coming off a fifth consecutive conference championship by winning the Big 12 regular season title. Arizona won 16 straight matches before falling to TCU in the Big 12 Tournament final.

Arizona edged No. 9 Oklahoma for the final top eight seed, giving Arizona a significant home court advance should it make the Sweet 16. Arizona is 12-1 at home this year.

The Wildcats, who are making their seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance, have lost in the Sweet 16 in three of the past five seasons.

To get that round, Arizona must get past NAU and then either Ole Miss or Clemson. The Rebels are ranked No. 28 and the Tigers are No. 33.

The UA is led by senior Jay Friend, the No. 5 ranked singles player in the country.

Women’s tennis

Arizona women’s tennis (20-9) is heading to Columbus, Ohio, where it’ll face Notre Dame (18-9) on Saturday at 7 a.m. PST. The winner will take on either No. 3 Ohio State (23-4) or Youngstown State (12-11) on Sunday.