Oct. 10, 2008
TULSA, Okla. - Texas A&M senior All-American Conor Pollock (pronounced PAUL-luck) upset eighth-ranked Justin Kronauge of Ohio State, 6-3, 7-6 (3), in the round of 16 to advance in the singles main draw of the D'Novo ITA All-American Championships held Friday afternoon at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
The win automatically qualified Pollock, ranked No. 17 in the nation in singles, for the prestigious ITA National Indoors for the second-straight season. This year's indoor tournament will be held on Nov. 6-9 on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. The six-foot right-hander from San Antonio, Texas, will face top-seeded and top-ranked Oleksandr Nedevyesov of Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.
"Conor played a very solid match today," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "He served exceptionally well and played the key points better than his opponent. Conor is being really aggressive and not letting any adversity get in his way by continuing to fight and go for his shots. All of those elements of his game are allowing him to have a good tournament here in Tulsa. He will have a huge test tomorrow, but I know he will be razor sharp. I like how he is playing and I feel confident about his chances."
In doubles play, the fourth-ranked and fourth-seeded combination of Pollock and sophomore All-American Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) eliminated No. 33-ranked Houston Barrick and Sanam Singh, 8-3, in the round of 16, which set up a rematch of last year's NCAA Doubles Championship semifinal with Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge of Ole Miss in the quarterfinals. The ninth-ranked tandem, who hail from Sweden and The Netherlands, edged Pollock and Krajicek, 8-5, to move on to tomorrow's semifinals.
"This was a good tournament for Austin and Conor," Denton said. "They match-up well together and are still going to have a great season. None of the top seeds advanced, so it shows there is a lot of parity this season. If you don't get off to a good start and get key points, anything can happen. Our guys are hitting the ball well and playing good doubles. We just didn't win the key points today against a very experienced doubles team from Ole Miss. It was one break a serve. We had a chance to break serve at four-all, but did not capitalize on it and that was the difference in the match."
D'NOVO ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oct. 3-12, 2008
Michael D. Case Tennis Center
at Tulsa, Okla.
MAIN DRAW SINGLES
Round of 16
(17) Conor Pollock (Texas A&M) def. (8) Justin Kronauge (Ohio State), 6-3, 7-6 (3).
MAIN DRAW DOUBLES
Round of 16
(4) Austin Krajicek-Conor Pollock (Texas A&M) def. (33) Houston Barrick-Sanam Singh (Virginia), 8-3.
Quarterfinals
(9) Jonas Berg-Bram ten Berge (Ole Miss) def. (4) Austin Krajicek-Conor Pollock (Texas A&M), 8-5.