April 21, 2011
BATTLE OF THE BRAZOS TO DECIDE 2011 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP: The Wednesday, Apr. 20 men's tennis match between Texas A&M (23-4, 4-0 Big 12) and Baylor (18-3, 5-0 Big 12) set for 6 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, will determine at least a share of the Big 12 regular-season title, as well as the top seed in the upcoming Big 12 Championships, which will also be held in Waco, Apr. 29-May 1.
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK FOR BIG 12 TENNIS: Only three Big 12 schools have won the Big 12 men's tennis regular season championship, Texas A&M, Texas and Baylor, and the 2011 crown will go to either Texas A&M or Baylor. Both teams are undefeated in league action and look to win the crown outright. A&M will face Texas at home (Saturday, Apr. 23) with first serve at 1 p.m. If Texas A&M defeats Baylor, the Aggies are guaranteed at least a share of the title with the one match remaining against Texas. If the Bears win, they win the title outright since this is Baylor's last Big 12 match. The Longhorns won the regular season title last spring, while Baylor last won the crown in 2009 and Texas A&M brought home the hardware in 2001.
BIG 12 STANDINGS: (As of Monday, Apr. 18)
School Big 12 Overall Big 12 Matches Remaining
Baylor 5-0 18-3 vs. A&M
Texas A&M 4-0 23-4 at Baylor; vs. Texas
Texas 3-2 17-6 at A&M
Texas Tech 2-3 15-8 at Nebraska
Oklahoma 2-3 13-6 at Nebraska
Nebraska 1-3 15-9 vs. OU; vs. TT
Oklahoma St. 0-6 5-12 Finished Big 12 regular season
Steve Denton QUOTES: “Our guys are really excited about playing Baylor on Wednesday up in Waco. Both teams have a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence going into the match, and we expect a barn burner as a result. We believe our experience against Texas last year in this same situation will give us the opportunity to produce a different outcome. Both teams are very experienced and this will boil down to who wants it more, and who plays best on the key points of each match. We know each match will be a battle. We finished second to Texas in the conference last year and finished second to Baylor the year before. One of our stated goals this season has been to win the Big 12 Championship. Our guys have stayed poised and focused on each match and Baylor is the next match on the schedule.”
AGGIES LOOK TO TIE 3rd-BEST SEASON MARK: The 2011 edition of Texas A&M men's tennis has already won 23 matches and with a win on Wednesday would tie for the third-best season record in school history. The 2010 edition posted a 25-7 dual record to earn second place on the all-time list and the all-time best mark was the 2001 squad with a 27-4 overall record.
MOST AGGIE TENNIS DUAL WINS IN A SEASON
27-4 2001
25-7 2010
24-6 2000
24-9 2004
24-10 1984
23-4 2011
23-4 1994
23-10 2003
LAST YEAR VS. BAYLOR:
REGULAR-SEASON MATCH (College Station, Apr. 7, 2010): Last year when these teams met before 447 fans, the Aggies were ranked No. 12 and Baylor was ranked No. 9. After a 1:15 rain and lightning delay, A&M seized the doubles point with Jeff Dadamo and Austin Krajicek winning at No. 1 doubles, 8-3, over Denes Lukacs and Roberto Maytin. A&M's Alexey Grigorov and Alberto Bautista followed with an 8-3 victory at No. 2 doubles over No. 78-ranked Bears' Julian Bley and Attila Bucko. A&M would take that momentum to win five of the first six sets in singles. No. 46 Dadamo would follow with the next point for A&M at the No. 2 singles with a straight sets win (6-3, 6-3) over No. 32 Jordan Rux. Krajicek, ranked No. 8 at the time, followed with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 19 Lukacs. Baylor would climb back to 3-1 with a win at No. 6 as Bley defeated Aggie freshman Niall Angus, 6-3, 6-1. A freshman, Alberto Bautista from McAllen, Texas, would clinch the match for the Aggies with a 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 win at the No. 5 line over Dominik Mueller. Grigorov and Alexis Klegou would finish off the match for A&M with wins at the No. 4 and No. 3 lines respectively with both going to third set tiebreakers. It marked the first win by A&M over Baylor in the Steve Denton era.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH (Austin, Texas, May 1, 2010): Meeting in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championships played in Austin, the Aggies handed the Bears a 4-1 loss and A&M reached the finals for the first time since 2004. The Aggies took the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and No. 2. Baylor would tally the first singles point with Dominik Mueller beating Alberto Bautista at No. 5 before A&M's Jeff Dadamo, ranked No. 44, beat No. 34 Jordan Rux at the No. 2 singles. Alexey Grigorov beat Attila Bucko at No. 3 to extend the lead to 3-1 for A&M and at the No. 1 line, Austin Krajicek, ranked No. 7, clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3 win over No. 14 Denes Lukacs.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH (Norcross, Georgia, May 21, 2010): Meeting for the third time in the spring, the NCAA round of 16 match was moved indoors at the Racquet Club of the South and the Bears took a 4-1 decision over A&M. The doubles point went to A&M. The Aggies' No. 3 team of Marcus Lunt outlasted Attile Bucko and Jordan Rux at the No. 2 doubles, 9-8 (1) in another tiebreaker. Baylor won five of the first six first sets in singles. Roberto Maytin beat Alberto Bautista at No. 5 to make the overall match square at 1 point each, then Denes Lukacs defeated Marcus Lunt, 6-2, 6-1.
CURRENT RANKINGS: The Aggies are the top-ranked Big 12 club in the latest ITA rankings at No. 6 and Baylor is right behind at No. 7. The Texas Longhorns are No. 12 in the latest poll. In singles rankings, Baylor's John Peers is ranked No. 17 and A&M's Austin Krajicek is ranked No. 19. Jeff Dadamo from A&M comes in at No. 40 before four Bears are ranked with Dennis Langsfeld at No. 82, Sergio Ramirez at No. 83, Roberto Maytin at No. 85 and Kike Grangeiro at No. 91. A&M's Alexis Klegou is ranked No. 101 in singles. In doubles, A&M's senior All-American duo of Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo are ranked No. 4 and Baylor's top duo of John Peers and Roberto Maytin are ranked No. 6. The Bears tandem of Jordan Rux and Sergio Ramirez are ranked No. 46 while A&M's doubles team of senior Alexey Grigorov and freshman Junior Ore are ranked No. 48. The No. 3 A&M doubles team of Alberto Bautista and Colin Hoover are ranked No. 68.