Arizona men’s tennis senior Jay Friend will be bringing some hardware back with him to Tucson this fall.
Friend won three gold medals for Japan at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, taking home men’s singles, men doubles and mixed doubles. Friend on Saturday became the first Japanese player to win gold in men’s singles since 1967.
A CLEAN SWEEP FOR JAY
Jay Friend is now a 3x Gold Medalist at the #RhineRuhr2025 FISU World University Games with a win in Men’s Singles & Mixed Doubles + a team win for Japan!
He is also the first Japanese player to take home the Men’s Singles title since 1967 pic.twitter.com/eASF6CAf0S
— Arizona Men’s Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) July 26, 2025
Friend, who was raised in Tokyo, competed for his home country Japan against student athletes aged 17-25.
Friend is one of the top returning collegiate players in men’s tennis. He finished the 2024-25 season No. 9 in men’s singles and No. 66 in men’s doubles (with partner Eric Padgham) in ITA’s national rankings.
What a week for our guy. pic.twitter.com/lLvddHlg9N
— Arizona Men’s Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) July 26, 2025
Friend was named All-Big 12 First Team in both singles and doubles. Friend played on the top singles court for much of the season while teammate Colton Smith was away competing in professional tournaments.
Friend is expected to assume the No. 1 singles court duties next season with Smith gone.
Lead photo: Courtesy of Arizona Athletics