March 23, 2009
IRVING, Texas - Texas A&M sophomore All-American Austin Krajicek (pronounced CRY-check) earned Big 12 Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week honors for the first time of his career for matches of March 16-22 by the league office on Monday.
Krajicek, ranked No. 52 nationally in singles in the latest Campbell/ITA rankings, led the 15th-ranked Aggies to their third-straight win of the season against the nation's best with a 4-3 upset of No. 10 USC on March 19 and a 4-3 victory over No. 35 LSU on March 21 in College Station. He is currently on a team-leading five-match win streak playing primarily at No. 2 singles. The left-hander from Brandon, Fla., defeated No. 92-ranked Steve Johnson of USC in a three-setter, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, and James Cluskey of LSU in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Three of his current five wins of the season were against ranked opponents including the No. 4 player in the country from Ohio State and the No. 55 player from Illinois.
An All-Big 12 singles and doubles selection as well as Big 12 Freshman and Newcomer of the Year in 2008, Krajicek has put together a team-leading 9-4 record in dual matches this spring. He also posted an undefeated 2-0 weekend at No. 1 doubles with senior All-American Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas). The Aggies' top tandem is currently ranked No. 3 nationally in the ITA rankings and picked up their 20th overall victory of the season and improved their mark to 12-1 in dual match victories with an 8-3 result over 12th-ranked Neal Skupski and Michael Venus of LSU. They also took down the sixth-ranked doubles pair of Robert Farah and Steve Johnson of USC, 8-5. Krajicek and Pollock are on a six-match win streak.
The Aggies (8-5) continue on one of their best winning streaks in school history with back-to-back victories over top 10 opponents in No. 10 USC and No. 7 Illinois on March 15. They claimed back-to-back weekly awards for the first time since the 2004 season as Pollock was honored as player of the week on March 16.