The saying “patience is a virtue” has proven to be true for Arizona men’s tennis junior Casper Christensen — and the Wildcat team he’s now helping on the court.
After starting his collegiate career at Miami, Christensen transferred to Arizona last year and redshirted the spring season. Despite not being able to help the team on the court, he was able to do his part off the court to support his teammates last year as Arizona earned a Sweet 16 berth for the first time in program history.
This season, Christensen has played a bigger role back on the court. Heading into another Sweet 16 matchup — this time Saturday in New York City — Christensen is riding a 14-match winning streak in singles play.
Arizona advanced to this year’s Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament this past weekend after sweeping Boise State and Auburn at home. The ninth-seeded Wildcats (26-3) will face No. 8 Columbia (22-3) Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Milstein Family Tennis Center.
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“I knew we had something special last year when he was redshirting,” UA coach Clancy Shields said. “He would come to the matches and he was the loudest guy on the sidelines, and you were like, ‘Gosh, this guy is so passionate off the court. I can’t wait to watch him play when he is actually playing for the team.’”
Arizona’s Casper Christensen draws a bead on the ball in the No. 5 singles match against Auburn’s Nicholas Heng in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament Saturday against Auburn at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson.
Christensen is now 29-6 this season including 5-0 in conference play. He’ll go for win No. 15 in a row Saturday.
“This year now that he is not redshirting, you’re like, ‘Alright, it was just what we expected,’” Shields said. “He is just an ultimate competitor.”
It was a somewhat slower start to his first season of play in Tucson for Christensen; he was dealing with a sickness that slowed him down early. But it didn’t take him long to find his groove as he has done for the majority of the season.
“My serve has gotten better and I was feeling more solid from the baseline,” Christensen said. “Early in the season, I was not fully fit yet.
“But now I have had a couple good months and matches all the time, so now I feel really good.”
Christensen did not finish his match in the second round against Auburn, but he did against Boise State with a 6-3, 6-2 win on Court 5 to help earn a point for the Wildcats.
Arizona associated coach Alexander Free, who is always Christensen’s court during matches, talked about his growth throughout the season.
“I feel like Casper and I have put in so many hours on the court together really over this semester,” Free said. “To see him finish at the net and winning matches with his serve and competing with really good players on his forehand side; everyone knew he had a world class backhand, but he has really improved his game so much.”
“That’s a testament to when he comes out here and he works, he is really focused on what he is trying to do. His growth throughout this semester has been crazy.”
