March 30, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M men's tennis All-American Austin Krajicek (pronounced CRY-check) earned Big 12 Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week honors for the second time of his career on Tuesday.
The two-time All-Big 12 singles and doubles standout led the Aggies (13-4) to an impressive 2-0 start in league play and the team's sixth-straight victory of the season with a sweep of the Oklahoma schools over the weekend.
Krajicek, a native of Brandon, Fla., defeated No. 20-ranked Andrei Daescu of Oklahoma in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, on March 26 and two-time Big 12 Player of the Year Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State in a third-set super tiebreaker, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (8), on March 28.
He is currently on a four-match win streak, all against players ranked higher than No. 40 in the country, with a team-leading 12-2 mark at No. 1 singles and has won eight out of his last 10 matches of the season. Krajicek, who moved up to a career-best No. 8 in the latest Campbell/ITA singles rankings released on Tuesday, is also 9-2 versus nationally-ranked opponents this year. He is the second-highest ranked player from the Big 12 behind sixth-ranked Raony Carvalho of Texas Tech.
In doubles play, Krajicek and junior teammate Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.), ranked a career-best No. 5 nationally, also went an undefeated 2-0 at the No. 1 line to help A&M win the doubles point in each of its weekend dual matches. The Aggie tandem allowed only five games against the top doubles teams for the Sooners and Cowboys combined. They beat Andrei Daescu and Costin Paval of OU, 8-3, and No. 12-ranked Oleksandr Nedovyesov and Aleksey Bessonov, 8-2.