Remi Boutillier and Marianne Jodoin were each named WAC Player of the Year and Jay Udwadia and Simon Thibodeau were named WAC Coach of the Year, respectively.
Fresno State men's tennis anticipates a selection to the NCAA Tournament.
Jay Udwadia starts his eighth year as Fresno State's men's tennis coach after taking over for the Bulldogs in November 2004.
At Fresno State, Udwadia has instilled a "work-hard, no excuses attitude," that has created excellence on the tennis courts and in the classroom for his teams. The Bulldogs have become a team that is mentally prepared and physically conditioned for their opponents and the rigors of college life. Udwadia's work ethic and detailed attention to conditioning has been an integral part of his team's success athletically and academically.
Udwadia and the Bulldogs have made tremendous strides in the past eight years. Udwadia led the Bulldogs from a 10-11 record in his first year to six straight winning seasons from 2006-11. In five of the last six years, Udwadia has led the Bulldogs to the Western Athletic Conference title match and a national ranking as high as No. 22. In 2011, the `Dogs won the WAC Regular Season Title and the WAC Tournament Title. They defeated No. 23 Minnesota in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament before falling to No. 14 Cal 4-3 in the 2nd round.
In Jay Udwadia's eight years at Fresno State, the Bulldogs have advanced to the WAC Championship match four times.
Under Udwadia, two Bulldogs have earned WAC Player of the Year, Jakub Cech and Rudolf Siwy. Cech was named the WAC Player of the Year in 2006 and won the prestigious Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northwest Regional and participated in all three major championships of the college tennis season. Cech was the first Bulldog to qualify for the NCAA singles tournament since 2001 and reached a career-high of No. 26 in 2007. Siwy earned the WAC Player of the Year honor in 2008. Siwy was nationally ranked as high as No. 32 and earned an invite to the 2009 NCAA Singles Tournament, where he made it to the second round.
Udwadia guided eight singles players and nine doubles tandems to All-WAC honors. Udwadia also vaulted five of his players into the regional top-30 rankings in past seasons.
In the Udwadia era, Fresno State has been very tough at home in the Wathen Tennis Center. The Bulldogs are 66-12 on their home courts since 2005, with an impeccable 11-1 record in 2010. Since Udwadia took over, the `Dogs have been ranked Top-50 in the ITA National Rankings in six seasons, and in 2010 were ranked as high as 22.
In 2010, the Bulldogs earned a spot in the "Sweet Sixteen" of National Indoors by defeating No. 10 Texas A&M and No. 30 Rice. The Bulldogs continued to shine in 2010 by defeating No. 36 BYU to advance to the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament, before falling to National Champions USC in a closely-contested 4-1 battle.
Udwadia has taught the Bulldogs to be disciplined in the classroom as well. Since Udwadia's arrival, the team has achieved a 3.0 or higher grade point average each year. In 2011, the team attained a 3.4 GPA. Udwadia strives for academics to be a strong tradition in the men's tennis program. His teams typically have the highest team GPA on campus.
In 2010 and 2011, ten members of the team earned Academic All-WAC honors. Udwadia's players have earned a number of other academic awards, including the Fresno State Harold Haak Scholarship and academic all-district accolades from ESPN The Magazine.
Udwadia coached the New York Buzz of the World Team Tennis league from 2008-2010. The WTT is a professional tennis league founded by tennis legend Billie Jean King. In 2008 he guided the Buzz to their first and only World Team Tennis title championship. During his time with WTT, Udwadia coached five time grand slam champion, Martina Hingis.
In addition, Udwadia coached the USTA Boys 18's National Team Event, representing the NorCal Section. He has also been instrumental in recruiting top-ranked Californians to Fresno State. Udwadia serves as the Chair of the ITA West Region and is also a member of the NCAA National Operating Committee. He also served as the Tournament Director for the Men's ITA All-American Tournament during the fall season.
Udwadia came to the Bulldogs from Drake, where he was named MVC Coach of the Year for his efforts. He recruited the 2004 Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year, who also was an All-Conference honoree. In 2004, Udwadia led the team to the 2004 Missouri Valley Conference. Under Udwadia, Drake was very successful academically as three players were honored by the league for their academic achievements.
Prior to Drake, Udwadia was the assistant coach at Northwestern for four seasons. While there, he helped lead the Wildcats to a fourth place finish in the Big Ten in 2002 along with a No. 45 national ranking. Northwestern participated in the NCAA Tournament in 2000 and `02 under Udwadia.
Before beginning his career as a college tennis coach, Udwadia spent two years on the ATP Tour, earning 26 ATP doubles points and capturing an ITF doubles title. He competed in tournaments run by the French Tennis Federation, and he played club tennis in Australia.
Udwadia was a four-year letterwinner in the highly-competitive SEC for the University of Arkansas and was team captain in his senior year. He helped lead the Razorbacks to three NCAA tournament appearances and a spot in the Top 25 of the national rankings. He graduated from Arkansas in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in sociology.
