March 25, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 17th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team carries an impressive four-match win streak into its Big 12 Conference-opening weekend against No. 19 Oklahoma on Friday, March 26 at 6 p.m. (CT) and No. 44 Oklahoma State on Sunday, March 28 at 1 p.m. (CT) at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
The Aggies (11-4) are on a roll having won eight of their last 10 matches of the season including six against nationally-ranked opponents. Two of their last four contests have been substantial victories over No. 11 California (5-2) on March 12 and No. 12 Louisville (7-0) on March 22. A&M's shutout of Louisville was its second against a top-15 opponent in a span of 10 days.
"The season starts over when you get into conference play," said third-year Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton whose Aggies finished in second place behind defending league champion Baylor with a 5-1 mark in the Big 12 a year ago. "The teams in our league are so much more familiar with each other. You have to throw out all of the previous matches. It certainly helps us going into conference playing like we have the past couple of matches. We've had really solid wins against good teams here at home. Oklahoma is much improved from last year. Their top players are playing very well and (head coach) John Roddick has already added a couple of really important pieces to the puzzle for them. They've played really well and recently reached the finals of the Blue-Gray Tennis Classic, so I know they are very battle tested."
Last year, A&M swept the Oklahoma schools in the regular season and own a 21-2 advantage in the all-time series with the Sooners (12-2) including a two-match win streak. Meanwhile, the Aggies snapped a six-match skid to the Cowboys (6-6) in a series in which they lead 16-9 including a 4-1 victory in the second round of the ITA Men's Tennis Kickoff Weekend held earlier this spring on Jan. 31 in College Station.
"Both teams are going to come in here really hungry, so we're going to have to play well to beat them," Denton said. "Our guys know the importance of getting off to a good start, but at the same time, we're obviously excited about how we've been playing as of late."
Individually, junior All-American and two-time All-Big 12 singles and doubles selection Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) guided the Aggies to an impressive 3-0 week capturing his sixth and seventh victories of the season over a nationally-ranked opponent at No. 1 singles. He defeated No. 40 Bassam Beidas of Pepperdine, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, on March 19 and No. 31 Austen Childs of Louisville, 6-4, 7-5, on March 22. Krajicek currently boasts a 10-2 mark at the top of the order and has won eight out of his last 10 matches of the season.
He and junior Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.), ranked No. 9 nationally, also went an undefeated 3-0 at the No. 1 line to help A&M win the doubles point in each of its weekend dual matches. The Aggie duo allowed only six games against the top doubles teams from Lamar, Pepperdine and Louisville combined. They topped No. 25 Bassam Beidas and Alex Llompart of Pepperdine, 8-3, Denis Ermilov and Robert Lee, 8-2, of Lamar and Simon Childs and Alejandro Calligari of Louisville, 8-1.
In addition, freshman Alberto Bautista (McAllen, Texas) is on a team-best five-match winning streak and has also won eight out of his last 10 playing primarily at No. 5 singles with an 11-2 record. He clinched the match victory in a 6-1 decision over Lamar on March 19. He is one of four A&M players with eight-or-more dual victories in singles next to junior Alexey Grigorov (Moscow, Russia) who holds a 9-4 mark at No. 4, Dadamo (8-4) at No. 2 and Krajicek.
Live video and live scoring for all three matches will be available on www.AggieAthletics.com. Tickets can be purchased online at: www.12thManFoundation.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-888-99-AGGIE.
Catch The Coach Denton Radio Show...Listen to the Steve Denton Radio Show live every Monday at 4:15 p.m. (CT) on Chip Howard's SportsTalk broadcast live on KZNE 1150 AM The Zone in College Station. Denton joins Chip Howard for the only college tennis coach's radio show in the nation. Each week, the duo will recap and preview matches for the nationally-ranked Aggies. The weekly radio show airs every Monday from February through the NCAA Championships and can also be heard worldwide on the Internet at: www.KZNE.com.
Where's Wilson Promotion...Wilson, a smiling tennis ball, will be hiding at every home match this season at the Mitchell Tennis Center. One lucky fan who finds him this weekend will receive a prize compliments of Texas A&M University and will be entered into a grand prize contest which will be held during the women's tennis team's Lone Star Showdown match versus rival Texas on April 20. Fans are encouraged to come out to the matches early to increase their chances of being the first person to find Wilson.