Sept. 23, 2010
COSTA MESA, CA - Texas A&M's Austin Krajicek knocked off the top-seeded Fabrice Martin from France in the second round of the Costa Mesa Pro Classic held at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center in California. Krajicek made quick work of the Frenchman winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. Krajicek advances to the quarterfinals on Friday.
"I got off to a much quicker start today than I did on Tuesday," Krajicek said. "I got an early break and that gave me confidence and I think it caused Fabrice some concern. He's got a big serve and I was able to handle it and I stayed focused throughout the match. In the second set, I was able to get an early break as well."
"With the day off between matches, I was able to work with Coach (Steve) Denton on my serve and we worked on a lot of things that really helped me perform well today," Krajicek said. "It's good to get back into tournament shape and I look forward to the next match tomorrow (Friday)."
Martin, from France, was ranked #419 in the ATP World Rankings as of Monday, Sept. 20, 2010. He was the top seed in the 32-man individual draw. Now, Krajicek faces the sixth-seeded Dimitar Kutrovsky from Bulgaria. Kutrovsky lettered the past four years for the Texas Longhorns.
Krajicek is a senior three-time NCAA All-American from Brandon, Florida, and is the top-ranked Big 12 tennis player in singles coming in ranked #12 overall in the pre-season ITA Tennis Rankings. Krajicek, the 2010 Co-Big 12 Player of the Year, posted a 19-7 record at the No. 1 position last spring.
Krajicek and his next opponent, Kutrovsky, faced each other in singles action three times this past spring. Krajicek won on Feb. 5 by a margin of 6-7, 6-4, 6-2. Kutrovsky won in Austin in April, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 and won their last matchup, 6-3, 6-2 in the Big 12 Championships. Kutrovsky reached the NCAA quarterfinals in singles action last spring at the University of Georgia.