Texas A&M
Washington
Grigorov Clinches 4-3 Victory Over No. 22 Huskies
Mar 08, 2009 | Men's Tennis
March 8, 2009
SEATTLE - Texas A&M men's tennis player Alexey Grigorov (Moscow, Russia) won his second consecutive match to clinch a 4-3 victory for the Aggies over No. 22 Washington Sunday afternoon at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
Grigorov, a sophomore who joined the team in January, was one of three A&M players to finish off their opponents in three-set matches to edge the Huskies (9-5) and close out a perfect 2-0 weekend for the Aggies (5-4) through the Pacific Northwest. A&M tallied a 6-1 victory at No. 27 Boise State on Friday night. Grigorov defeated Washington's Derek Drabble, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 4 line to claim his second career victory as an Aggie.
"With Alexey (Grigorov) not being here very long, I was very proud of how he played today," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "With the crowd against us and the other player playing at a high level, he played his very best tennis at Texas A&M to clinch the match. Alexey played some incredible shots at important moments to hold serve, break serve and then hold again to earn a well-deserved 6-4 third set. You dream about playing your best tennis in pressure situations. If that wasn't his best, it was pretty close to it."
UW took a 3-1 lead after the Aggies lost three matches in straight sets to start off singles competition. A&M rallied back behind the play of sophomore Wil Spencer (Ponce de Leon, Fla.) and sophomore All-American Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) who set up the grand finale over UW. Spencer, ranked No. 22 nationally, won his second-straight match with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 decision to Patrik Fischer at No. 2 singles, while Krajicek, ranked No. 107 nationally, beat Martin Kildahl, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, at No. 3.
"After last weekend, we talked about the importance of being mentally tough," Denton said. "We went 0-7 last week in three-set matches (against Notre Dame and Louisville) and we were able to turn it around this weekend. We were 6-0, including three of them today, after being down 3-1. Austin (Krajicek) got back on track by winning a tough three-setter and Wil (Spencer) was down 3-1 in the third and really got aggressive with his game and won the next four out of five games."
A&M started off the day strong winning two of three matches to claim the doubles point against the Huskies. Senior All-American Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas) along with Krajicek defeated their second-straight ranked opponent in No. 66-ranked Fischer and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan by an 8-5 count at the top of the lineup. The win improved the sixth-ranked tandem's overall doubles record to 16-5 on the season. Junior Marcus Lunt (San Antonio, Texas) partnered with Spencer for an 8-3 victory over Brad Bator and Alex Rosinski at the No. 3 line to improve to 5-3 in dual match play.
"We had a good result in doubles," Denton said. "We got off to a solid start. We played a very good match at No. 1 doubles. It was a unique situation. Both teams were tied at five-all in the set. Washington was called with reaching over, which turned into a big point for us. We were able to break serve and serve out the match."
After a five-match road swing away from the friendly confines of the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center, the Aggies return home to College Station for a four-match homestand which will run through the spring break holiday. A&M will host back-to-back top 10 opponents in No. 3 Ohio State on Friday, March 13 at 6 p.m. (CT) followed by a Sunday, March 15 dual match against No. 7 Illinois at noon.
Season and individual tickets for all Texas A&M men's tennis home matches during the 2009 season are available for purchase online at www.12thManFoundation.com or by calling the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Center at 1-888-99-AGGIE. Tickets to the 2009 NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships, which A&M will host on May 14-25, are also available for purchase.
(36) TEXAS A&M 4, (22) WASHINGTON 3
March 8, 2009
Nordstrom Tennis Center
at Seattle, Wash.
SINGLES
No. 1 - (46) Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (UW) def. (24) Conor Pollock (Texas A&M), 6-3, 7-6 (2).
No. 2 - (22) Wil Spencer (Texas A&M) def. Patrik Fischer (UW), 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
No. 3 - (107) Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M) def. Martin Kildahl (UW), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
No. 4 - Alexey Grigorov (Texas A&M) def. Derek Drabble (UW), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
No. 5 - David Chu (UW) def. Marcus Lunt (Texas A&M), 6-0, 6-2.
No. 6 - Ryo Sekiguchi (UW) def. Kayvon Karimi (Texas A&M), 6-3, 6-1.
DOUBLES
No. 1 - (6) Krajicek-Pollock (Texas A&M) def. (66) Fischer-Nedunchezhiyan (UW), 8-5.
No. 2 - Drabble-Kildahl (UW) def. Grigorov-Colin Hoover (Texas A&M), 8-1.
No. 3 - Lunt-Spencer (Texas A&M) def. Brad Bator-Alex Rosinski (UW), 8-3.
ORDER OF FINISH
Doubles: 2, 1, 3
Singles: 6, 5, 1, 3, 2, 4*
Players Mentioned
