Krajicek & Dadamo advance to Doubles Championship Match at National Indoors
Nov 06, 2010 | Men's Tennis
Nov. 6, 2010
FLUSHING, NY - The dynamic duo of Texas A&M All-American seniors Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo have reached the championship match in doubles play at the 2010 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships at the new indoor facilities at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, located in Flushing, New York, by defeating the Georgia Tech tandem of Kevin King and Juan Spir, 6-4, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6).
“Today's match was an absolute dogfight with the Georgia Tech guys,” Aggie head coach Steve Denton said. “We held on in the first set 6-4 with a solid service game. In the second set we had a chance to break at 4-3 and 15-40 but did not convert. Give the Georgia Tech guys credit they seized the momentum from there to close out the second set. In the third, we lost serve to go down 3-2 but played a great game to break right back. At 5-5 in the third, Jeff (Dadamo) dropped his serve only to have he and Austin show that Fighting Aggie spirit and experience and break back at 6-5. The tiebreaker was an unbelievable momentum swing. Tech raced out to a 6-2 lead only to see our guys fight back and finish with some very aggressive play on our own serve and some great defending points to secure the win.”
Krajicek (Brandon, FL) and Dadamo (Tampa, FL) will now face the Ole Miss brother tandem of Chris and Marcel Thiemann. The Thiemann's swept two sets from a Texas duo in the other semifinal match. The Aggies and the Rebels of Ole Miss will face each other at 9 a.m. central time. Fans can follow the match through the ITA website (itatennis.com).
It is believed to be the first Aggie doubles team to play for a national title in the ITA National Tournament since Shuon Madden and Dumitru Caradima in the early 2000's.
In addition to playing outstanding in the tournament, Krajicek was awarded the prestigious ITA Sportsmanship Award.
“I am very proud of Austin,” Denton said. “He handles himself with class, is a fierce competitor and does not let his emotions get the best of him. He is a great representative about what is right in collegiate tennis and an excellent representative of Texas A&M University.”
Leading up to the match with Georgia Tech, the Aggie tandem defeated Ohio State on Friday, 8-5.
Krajicek won his Friday second-round match in individual play by defeating Australian John Peers who plays for Baylor, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-6 (6). The match was close throughout and a rematch of an earlier match played in College Station with Peers coming out on top.
“Austin really played an old time serve and volley match against Peers,” Denton said. “Peers was serving for the match and Austin came up with a great return. He seized the momentum from the break of the serve in the third set and won the tiebreak with a great return on match point. It was a great battle and Austin gained a small measure of revenge from the earlier match played in College Station.”
In the quarterfinals of singles play, Krajicek faced Blaz Rola from Ohio State. Rola was able to win the opening set, 6-4, and closed out the match, 7-6 (1) to advance to the semifinals.
