Jay Udwadia - Head Coach (M) - Cowboy Tennis Coaches - Oklahoma State University Athletics

Jay Udwadia

Title:
Head Coach (M)
Email:
udwadia@okstate.edu
Phone:
(405) 744-7529

Under the tutelage of head coach Jay Udwadia, Oklahoma State has posted seven consecutive winning campaigns and was selected to compete at the NCAA Championship in each of the six seasons prior to the shortened 2020 campaign. During his time at OSU, nine players have achieved ITA All-America status, while four singles players and six doubles tandems have achieved All-Big 12 honors.

In 2020, the Cowboys were ranked as high as No. 14 and only spent one week outside of the ITA rankings. The Cowboys defeated Northwestern and Michigan in back-to-back weeks while they were unranked to propel themselves back into the rankings.

Individually, OSU’s top doubles tandem also made history as the duo of Matej Vocel and Dominik Kellovsky climbed up the ITA Rankings, reaching as high as No. 1 during the season becoming only the third duo in OSU history to hold the top spot.

With his 106th win during the 2018 season, Udwadia solidified himself as the second-winningest coach in Oklahoma State history behind only longtime head James Wadley’s 662 wins.

During the 2017 season, he coached the Cowboys to his best record with the program at 22-7. During that run, OSU took down 11 ranked opponents, including a 4-2 victory over No. 7 Northwestern at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship – the Cowboys’ first appearance at the tournament since 2008.

During his tenure at Oklahoma State, Udwadia has revitalized the Cowboy tennis program and turned it into one of the country’s collegiate tennis powers.

With the combination of a rejuvenated program and a state-of-the-art facility, the future holds great promise for Udwadia and the Cowboys. Oklahoma State will return six players from 2020, giving the team a solid shot at improving upon its recent success.

With a bevy of accolades, the Udwadia era at OSU has proven to be successful. Since his arrival in 2012, the Cowboys have made appearances in the Elite 8 in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The 2018 campaign also saw the Cowboys reach a season-high national ranking of No. 4. While the 2016, 2017, and 2018 campaigns saw the Cowboys achieve top-10 status.

Prior to his arrival at Oklahoma State, Udwadia served eight seasons as the Fresno State men’s tennis coach and spent the year before as the head coach at Drake. His overall record of 257-132 includes a 2004 Missouri Valley Championship and consecutive Western Athletic Conference titles in 2011 and 2012.

After kicking off his coaching career at Drake with a 17-6 season in 2004, Udwadia took over the program at Fresno State. He led the Bulldogs from a 10-11 record in his first year to seven consecutive winning seasons from 2006-12. Udwadia took Fresno State to the conference championship match in six of those seven years and won the league title twice in that span. His teams were consistently well regarded in the ITA National Rankings, reaching as high as No. 14 in 2012.

Udwadia, who was named the WAC Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2012, guided three Bulldogs to WAC Player of the Year honors, including Jakub Cech in 2006, Rudolf Siwy in 2008 and Remi Boutillier in 2012. He guided 12 singles players and 11 doubles tandems to All-WAC honors during his time at FSU.

He also has a propensity for success in the classroom, as his team’s GPA was higher than 3.0 every year of his tenure and several of his athletes received all-conference academic honors.

Outside of the collegiate circuit, 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. He also coached the USTA Boys 18’s National Team Event, representing the NorCal Section.

Prior to coaching at 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 2002 under Udwadia.

Before beginning his career as a college tennis coach, Udwadia spent one year 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 also played club tennis in Australia.

After earning seven consecutive NCAA Tournament berths from 2003-2009, Udwadia inherited an OSU squad coming off three straight losing seasons. The 2010, 2011 and 2012 campaigns marked a new low for the Cowboys, as the team had finished under .500 only nine previous times throughout its history.

Despite taking in a struggling squad, making his first move to a power conference and having to fill the shoes of an Oklahoma State coaching legend, Udwadia has yet to disappoint.

Thus far in Stillwater, Udwadia has compiled 137 wins at OSU. While leading the Cowboys to their 16th 20-win season three years ago, he collected his 200th career win as a head coach.

In his 17 seasons coaching at the collegiate level, Udwadia’s teams have won at least 15 matches in all but three seasons, with those coming in his first season at OSU and his first two years at Fresno State.

Udwadia, a native of Williamsville, N.Y., was a four-year letterwinner in the highly-competitive Southeastern Conference for the University of Arkansas and was team captain during his senior year.

While at Arkansas, he helped lead the Razorbacks to three NCAA tournament appearances and a spot in the Top 25 of the national rankings before graduating from the university in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Udwadia and his wife, Jennifer, have two sons and a daughter.