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Mike Fried Headshot 2021

Mike Fried

Mike Fried enters his 13th season at the helm of the Wesleyan men’s and women’s tennis programs in 2024-25. During his time with the Cardinals, he has led both teams to unprecedented success, including the University’s first women’s team NCAA Championship in 2019 and a national runner-up finish for the women in 2021 and 2024.

Over the course of his 12 seasons, Fried has guided both teams from unranked status to consistently ranked among the top teams in the country. In 2019, he became one of two coaches to have ever been named the ITA Coach of the Year for both men’s (2017) and women’s (2019) teams.

Fried has delivered recruiting classes ranked in the top-10 nationally in nine of the past 10 years, including the nation's second-ranked class for men in 2018 and the top recruiting class for the women in 2019. During his time, he has coached 65 All-NESCAC selections and 43 All-America honorees, while both of his teams have been recognized with Academic All-America accolades in each of his years. Fried has been named the Northeast Region Coach of the Year twice (2018-19, 2021-22 - women's team both times) and the NESCAC Coach of the Year four times (men in 2012-13, women in 2018-19, 2021-22, and 2022-23).

Fried recently completed a two-year term on to the ITA Board of Directors, a position he served from 2022-24. He was one of six head coaches across all NCAA Divisions that made up the ITA Board of Directors. 

Women’s Team Highlights:

  • The Cardinals completed another sensational season, starting the season going 22-0 for the second time in team history, winning the NESCAC Championship for hte fifth consecutive year, and finishing as the NCAA national runner-up for the second time in the past three seasons. Of Wesleyan's 22 victories, 17 came against nationally ranked opponents while the Cardinals won all but one match by a score line of 6-3 or better throughout the campaign. Caitlyn Ferrante '24 was named NESCAC Player of the Year, becoming the third Cardinal in team history to win the league's highest individual honor. Jackie Soloveychik '27 was named NESCAC Rookie of the Year as she joined Eudice Chong '18 as the only two Cardinals to have won the award in team history. Ferrante and Sarah Youngberg '26 both competed in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Tournaments, with the tandem making a run to the semifinal round of the doubles bracket. Each earned All-American honors in both singles and doubles. 
  • Another dominant season saw the Cardinals go 14-1 in the regular season with a 7-0 mark at home in 2022-23. In the NESCAC Tournament, the #2 seed Wesleyan defeated #7 Hamilton, #3 Amherst, and #1 Middlebury to roll to a fourth straight NESCAC Championship. The Cardinals hosted NCAA Tournament matches for just the second time in team history, earning wins over Allegheny and No. 33 Mary Washington before falling to No. 8 Emory in the NCAA Quarterfinal round. Wesleyan finished with a 19-2 record while Nika Vesely won NESCAC Player of the Year honors and later advanced to the semifinal round of the NCAA Singles Tournament. 
  • The 2021-22 season was a storybook campaign for the women's program as the Cardinals went 23-0 before falling to the eventual national champion CMS in the national semifinal round (Final Four). Wesleyan was ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation during the season and won a third consecutive NESCAC Championship, defeating Middlebury 5-4 at home to become the first Wesleyan program to win three straight league titles. This Wesleyan group became just the second NESCAC program in league history to start a season 20-0 (joining the 2014-15 national championship winning Williams team). 
  • Faced with a shortened season and a month to prepare for competitive matches, Fried's 2021 squad rattled off wins over nationally-ranked Williams, Amherst and Middlebury in the regular season before defeating another ranked opponent (Tufts), 6-3, at home in the 2021 NESCAC Championship match, giving Wesleyan back-to-back conference titles. The Cardinals' season-opening 6-3 win at Williams marked the first road win for Wesleyan over the Ephs in program history (0-22 previously) while a 7-2 triumph over Amherst the following weekend secured Wesleyan a second straight Little Three title. In the 2021 NCAA Tournament, Wesleyan was dominant in earning 5-0 sweeps over Moravian, Linfield and Washington & Lee to make it to the national semifinals. In that Final Four match, Wesleyan posted a 5-1 win over Kenyon, advancing to the title match for the second straight contested season. In the title match, however, Wesleyan fell to national power Emory, as the Cardinals closed the season as the national runner-up.
  • The 2019-20 campaign was unlike any other as the season was cut short in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wesleyan was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time of the outbreak, right before the Cardinals were set to compete in their first dual matches of the season. The Cardinals were well on their way to another title run as Wesleyan won three titles at the MIT Invitational, saw six Cardinals qualify for the ITA Cup after being finalists in the ITA Regionals and all six went on to be named All-Americans at the ITA Cup. In the spring, Wesleyan led the nation with eight ITA All-Americans. 
  • The historic 2018-19 season concluded with No. 1 Wesleyan capturing its first women’s team National Championship. The victory improved the Cardinals school record for most wins in a season with 20. En route to its title, Wesleyan concluded its home matches with an unblemished 10-0 mark, won its first Little Three title and its first NESCAC Championship. The NCAA Semifinal appearance was the first-ever for the Cardinals. Victoria Yu ’19 was named ITA Senior Player of the Year, while Fried was tabbed Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year. Individually, Fried led Venia Yeung ’22 to the NCAA singles final, while sister duo Victoria and Kristina Yu competed in the doubles quarterfinals. Yeung and Yu sisters all earned All-American status, while Victoria Yu was an NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.
  • The 2017-18 campaign was a record-smashing year for the Cardinals. Wesleyan finished No. 5 in the country – their highest finish ever – with a 14-4 overall record and a program-record seven conference victories. The squad advanced to the NCAA Elite 8 for the first time in program history. On the individual side, Eudice Chong ‘18 became the first player in any NCAA Division to win four NCAA singles titles. She was named NESCAC Player of the Year, ITA Player of the Year and Honda DIII Women’s Athlete of the Year. Fried also guided Victoria Yu ’19 to the NCAA singles final, and the Chong/Yu tandem to the NCAA doubles final, earning both of them All-America honors. The Chong and Yu duo also won the fall ITA Regional Championships and the Oracle Cup, before beating the top teams from the University of North Carolina and University of Kentucky en route to the Division I Fall Nationals doubles quarterfinals. Additionally, Chong won the fall ITA Regional Championship and ITA Oracle Cup in singles.
  • Wesleyan finished No. 8 in the final 2016-17 national rankings, having returned to the Sweet 16 for the second-straight year. Individually, Chong became the first player in Division III history to win three NCAA singles titles in a row. Additionally, Chong was the first women’s player since 2004 to win a singles and doubles title in the same year, as Chong and Victoria Yu ’19 claimed Wesleyan’s first-ever doubles championship, as both players earned ITA All-American accolades.
  • In 2015-16, the No. 8 Cardinals qualified for the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history, advancing to the Sweet 16. During individual competition, Chong won her second consecutive NCAA singles title, while Chong and her partner, Aashli Budhiraja ’18, advanced to the NCAA doubles semifinals, both earning ITA All-America honors.
  • During the 2014-15 season, Fried guided the women’s team back to the NESCAC Tournament for the first time since 2008, as they finished with a national ranking of 17th and an 11-4 overall record. Individually, Fried led Eudice Chong ’18 to the program’s first NCAA Division III singles title, as she was also named the ITA and NESCAC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Additionally, Chong and Helen Klass-Warch ’18 were named the first Wesleyan women’s tennis All-Americans.

Men’s Team Highlights:

  • Wesleyan went 5-5 in NESCAC play, earning a statement win over No. 5 ranked Williams at home, as the Cardinals defeated the Ephs 6-3 which gave the men just their seventh win over Williams in 112 all-time meetings. The Cardinals qualified for the NESCAC Tournament for the eighth consecutive season.
  • Despite a roster that featured just seven athletes, Wesleyan still managed a 7-9 overall record and 5-5 mark in NESCAC play in the 2021-22 season. Wesleyan defeated No. 14 Brandeis 5-4 and No. 24 Colby 6-3 during the course of the regular season while Peter Anker '22 became the first Cardinal in team history to reach the Quarterfinal stage of the NCAA Singles Tournament, earning All-American honors. 
  • Faced with a shortened season and a month to prepare for competitive matches with a limited roster, Fried's 2021 men's team was still able to perform well as the Cardinals went 4-2 overall and saw Noah Lilienthal and Ben Mitchell advance to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Individual Tournament, earning All-American honors. The only two losses on the season for Wesleyan came against Williams who advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. 
  • The 2019-20 campaign was unlike any other as the season was cut short in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Just days before news of the outbreak, Wesleyan was ranked No. 6 in the nation and had just defeated No. 7 Bowdoin, 5-4, in the Cardinals' first and only dual match of the spring. In the fall season, Princeton Carter '20 and Noah Lilienthal '22 won the Quinnipiac Invitational doubles A flight, competing against only D1 opponents. Zach Fleischman '21 and Lilienthal advanced to the ITA Semifinals in singles while Lilienthal earned All-American honors at yearend. 
  • The 2018-19 season was a historic one for the Cardinals, as they finished the year ranked No. 6 in the nation, while eclipsing a program-record 16 wins en route to the program’s second trip to the Elite Eight. Individually, Wesleyan qualified a program-best three individual selections for the NCAA Individual Championships. The Cardinal doubles duo Noah Lilienthal ’22 and Adrian Roji ’21 advanced to the finals of the NCAA Doubles Championship, which marked the first Championship appearance of any tandem in men’s history.  Andrew Finkelman ’21, Lilienthal and Roji all earned All-American honors, while Lilienthal was named ITA Rookie of the Year.
  • Wesleyan finished the 2017-18 campaign with a national ranking of 11th. On the individual side, Steven Chen ’18 and Finkelman qualified for the NCAA singles tournament, as both garnered All-NESCAC and All-America accolades.
  • In 2016-17, the men’s team finished as the fifth team in the country in the final ITA rankings – its highest finish ever – and advanced to the NCAA Championship tournament for the first time in program history. The 15 overall wins and eight conference victories were both program records, while the 8-1 mark in league play earned Wesleyan its first-ever NESCAC regular-season title. At the conclusion of the season, Fried was tabbed Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year.
  • The 2015-16 team finished No. 10 in the country, while advancing to the NESCAC Semifinals for the first time ever. Chen and Michael Liu ’17 earned All-America honors.
  • In 2014-15, Chen and Liu became the first Cardinals to earn ITA All-America honors since 1994 and were just the second and third players in men’s tennis history.
  • The Cardinals earned their first national rankings in 2013-14, finishing the year at No. 32. At the conclusion of Fried’s inaugural season, he was honored by his coaching peers with NESCAC Co-Coach of the Year honors.

A 1991 graduate of Brown University, Fried was a four-year starter, two-year captain, and the No. 1 singles and doubles player. Prior to Brown, Fried earned national high school tennis All-American honors and attained a No. 1 Eastern Tennis Association ranking in the men's open division. During his playing career, Fried posted wins over eventual three eventual Grand Slam winners and competed against other future pros such as Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Michael Chang.

Fried has had extensive tennis experience as a private coach and has worked as the development director at both the Macci International Tennis Academy in Delray Beach, Fla. and the Seguso-Bassett (now Evert) Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Fla. He has worked with top-ranked juniors from around the world, and coached players at ATP tour events in the United States and Europe.

Prior to his arrival at Wesleyan, Fried worked for over 10 years on Wall Street.