Friend and Smith begin the Main Draw of ITA All-American Championship

Tulsa, Okla.– Oct. 4 marked the first day of the ITA Men’s All-American Championship. Representing Arizona for the rest of the week No.23 Colton Smith and No.87 Jay Friend. 

Smith was one of 48 automatic qualifiers in the main draw for singles matches. Friend entered the qualifying round of 112 automatic qualifiers and 16 qualifiers from pre-qualifying rounds, he then went on a winning streak to advance to the main draw. 

Smith’s first match up was against No.12 JJ Tracy (OSU) in a close fight, as he led in the first set, fell to Tracy in a 3-6,6-4,6-4 final score. Smith will still compete in an extra match Oct.5 against Justin Schlageter (OU).

Friend began his All-American journey Oct.2 and is still on fire. He gained three ranked wins out of his four victories in the tournament. After Friend defeated No.101 Eduardo Graziani 6-2, 6-4, Luc Koenig 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, and No.117 Liam Krall 6-0, 6-3, he earned his spot in the main draw. For his first match up he continued his success receiving another ranked win while dominating No. 28 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-4, 6-3. 

Both Wildcats will return to play tomorrow.

Oct.5:

Jay Friend vs. No.34 Nikola Slavic (UM) @9:00 a.m. CT (7:00 a.m. MST)

Colton Smith vs. No.58 Justin Schlageter (OU) @12:30 p.m. CT (10:30 a.m. MST)