Texas A&M
Nebraska
Krajicek Leads Aggies To 4-3 Road Victory at Nebraska
Apr 02, 2010 | Men's Tennis
April 2, 2010
LINCOLN, Neb. - Junior All-American Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) won a dramatic third-set tiebreaker to lead the 12th-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team to a close 4-3 road victory at No. 37 Nebraska on Friday night at the Nebraska Tennis Center.
The Aggies (16-4, 3-0) kept their current win streak intact at nine-straight matches and are off to a perfect 3-0 start in Big 12 Conference play for the second consecutive season under fourth-year head coach Steve Denton.
Krajicek, A&M's top player and reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, split sets with No. 92-ranked Calin Paar of Nebraska and had to battle back from a two-love deficit in the third set. He gained a service break at 2-1 and both players held serve the rest of the way leading to the eventual match clincher. Krajicek went up 6-1 in the tiebreaker and finished it with a good serve and volley, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3). He improved his dual record to 13-3 overall and 3-0 in league play.
"The conditions were really windy and difficult today," Denton said. "We ended up playing outdoors after practicing indoors yesterday. We knew we had a tough match in store with Nebraska after they played us close last year in College Station. You always try to prepare your team for a close match. We went out and did a good job in doubles and took care of business, but then, we had a little bit of a letdown in singles.
"Nebraska won five out of the first six sets and really took it to us. Give credit to our team that we were able to stay in the match and battle. Austin (Krajicek) did a great job of pulling off a match he didn't have any business winning. He got it together in the second and third sets - attacked and served very well. I'm so proud of the way our guys stuck together, especially when we were in real trouble of letting this match get past us. Give a lot of credit to Nebraska. They played well and very smart in the wind."
A&M swept the doubles point for the 10th time this season courtesy of the fifth-ranked doubles combination of Krajicek and junior Marcus Lunt (San Antonio, Texas) and sophomore Alexis Klegou (Dunkerque, France) improved to 10-3 on the season with an 8-1 lead-off win at No. 3 doubles, while freshman Alberto Bautista (McAllen, Texas) and junior Alexey Grigorov (Moscow, Russia) closed out the sweep with an 8-7 (2) victory over Benedikt Lindheim and Francois Van Impe at No. 2.
It took nearly two and a half hours for a second point to go on the scoreboard with all six singles matches being hotly contested up-and-down the lineup. The Cornhuskers (12-7, 0-1) tied things up at one-all as David Bendheim defeated No. 46-ranked Jeff Dadamo by a count of 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 2 line.
Alexey Grigorov put A&M back up 2-1 as he snapped Benedikt Lindheim's nine-match win streak taking him to a third set for the first time in 10 matches, while raising his own win streak to eight-straight with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 4. Freshman Niall Angus (London, England) increased the Aggies' lead to 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-4 straight-set decision over Eric Sock at No. 6.
Nebraska tried to stave off an Aggie victory as Francois Van Impe defeated No. 121-ranked Alexis Klegou, 7-6 (3), 6-1 at No. 3, followed by Andre Stenger who dispatched Alberto Bautista in three, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, at No. 5.
"I'm very excited for our players," said Denton on the team's current win streak and good start to league play. "They have worked really hard all season long. They deserve all of the credit for what they have accomplished. These are the kind of wins that can be momentum changers in your season and finding a way to win this match today was a momentum changer for us. It really shows that we can handle adversity, even when we are close to defeat and playing under really tough conditions."
Up next, A&M will host UTSA and No. 36 Notre Dame in a tennis tripleheader scheduled for Monday, April 5 at noon (CT) and 6 p.m. (CT) respectively at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The Aggie women will play Notre Dame simultaneously with the Aggie men at 6 p.m. (CT). A&M will host its annual Dollar Day promotion with $1 hot dogs, $1 drinks and $1 popcorn available for purchase while supplies last for the three matches.
Live video and live scoring for all home 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.
(12) TEXAS A&M 4, (37) NEBRASKA 3
April 2, 2010
Nebraska Tennis Center
at Lincoln, Neb.
SINGLES
No. 1 - (8) Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M) def. (92) Calin Paar (Nebraska), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
No. 2 - David Bendheim (Nebraska) def. (46) Jeff Dadamo (Texas A&M), 6-4, 6-4.
No. 3 - Francois Van Impe (Nebraska) def. (121) Alexis Klegou (Texas A&M), 7-6 (3), 6-1.
No. 4 - Alexey Grigorov (Texas A&M) def. Benedikt Lindheim (Nebraska), 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
No. 5 - Andre Stenger (Nebraska) def. Alberto Bautista (Texas A&M), 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.
No. 6 - Niall Angus (Texas A&M) def. Eric Sock (Nebraska), 6-2, 6-4.
DOUBLES
No. 1 - (5) Krajicek-Dadamo (Texas A&M) def. Bendheim-Paar (Nebraska), 8-4.
No. 2 - Bautista-Grigorov (Texas A&M) def. Lindheim-Van Impe (Nebraska), 8-7 (2).
No. 3 - Klegou-Marcus Lunt (Texas A&M) def. Sock-Stenger (Nebraska), 8-1.
ORDER OF FINISH
Singles: 2, 4, 6, 3, 5, 1*
Doubles: 3, 1, 2
Players Mentioned
