Dadamo, Krajicek To Vie For Doubles Title at Wilson/ITA Texas Regional
Oct 27, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Oct. 27, 2009
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M junior All-American Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) and junior Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.) eliminated the fourth-seeded Texas duo of Ed Corrie and Kellen Damico in the semifinals of the 2009 Wilson/ITA Texas Regional Championships to earn a spot in the best-of-three doubles championship match to be held on Wednesday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
This will be the second consecutive year in which an Aggie doubles team will vie for the regional doubles title. Last fall, Krajicek and former three-time All-American Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas) helped A&M claim a sweep of the singles and doubles titles at the home-hosted tournament.
Dadamo, who played through three tough matches on Tuesday, served out the doubles match with a love game to keep A&M in the hunt for a title with an 8-6 victory over the Longhorns' Corrie and Damico. Krajicek and Dadamo were seeded ninth in the tournament draw and are playing in their first fall tournament as doubles partners. They will face No. 28-ranked Raony Carvalho and Rafeal Garcia of Big 12 Conference rival Texas Tech tomorrow in the finals. Carvalho and Garcia defeated Texas A&M junior Marcus Lunt (San Antonio, Texas), 8-3, in the semifinals.
"Jeff and Austin have played very well, despite being their first fall tournament of competition together," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "They have gelled very quickly and we are excited about their progress. Alexey and Marcus also had a solid tournament and you can't discard their big victory the other day (over No. 13-ranked Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala of Texas). I really feel like our doubles is going to be one of our strong suits this year along with our depth - and it is holding form with the success we have seen thus far in the fall."
In the singles draw, Dadamo reached the semifinals with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 quarterfinal victory over Artem Baradach of SMU. He later fell to No. 25-ranked and third-seeded Raony Carvalho of Texas Tech in a tough 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3) three-setter which clocked in at a little over two hours. Carvalho will take on No. 46-ranked Ed Corrie of Texas, who advanced with a walkover versus sixth-ranked and top-seeded teammate Dimitar Kutrovsky, in tomorrow's singles championship match.
"I was really impressed with Jeff in the singles," Denton said. "That was a high-quality match against (Raony) Carvalho. There were a lot of winners on both sides and weren't that many mistakes. He was able to come back from 5-2 in the third set and had a chance to win in the tiebreaker. He really stepped up his game today. It showed a lot about his mental toughness, especially with him being able to come back with enough energy to play doubles against a really good Texas team."
Due to tournament play being extended because of rain on Monday, the singles and doubles finals will both be played tomorrow. The event is open and free to the public. The best-of-three singles championship match will begin at 10 a.m. (CT) followed by a one-hour break prior to the best-of-three doubles championship match at approximately 12:30 p.m. (CT). Live video streaming from the Mitchell Tennis Center can be viewed online at: www.AggieAthletics.com.
WILSON/ITA TEXAS REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oct. 24-28, 2009
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center
at College Station, Texas
SINGLES
Semifinals
(25) Raony Carvalho (Texas Tech) def. Jeff Dadamo (Texas A&M), 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3).
(46) Ed Corrie (Texas) def. (6) Dimitar Kutrovsky (Texas), WO.
Quarterfinals
(25) Raony Carvalho (Texas Tech) def. (30) Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M), 7-6 (7), 6-2.
Jeff Dadamo (Texas A&M) def. Artem Baradach (SMU), 7-6 (5), 6-3.
DOUBLES
Semifinals
Jeff Dadamo-Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M) def. Ed Corrie-Kellen Damico (Texas), 8-6.
(28) Raony Carvalho-Rafeal Garcia (Texas Tech) def. Alexey Grigorov-Marcus Lunt (Texas A&M), 8-3.
