May 5, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS - Texas A&M senior duo of Jeff Dadamo (duh-DOM-oh) and Austin Krajicek (CRY-check) have been invited to compete in the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships in both the singles and doubles competitions and as a top eight seed in doubles earned All-America honors for the second straight year.
The 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams competition will be held May 25-30 at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, California, following the conclusion of the team championship (May 19-24) as Stanford serves as host. All matches will be best of three sets and regular scoring with a 12-point tiebreaker at six games will be used in all matches.
Dadamo (Tampa, Florida) and Krajicek (Brandon, Florida) are seeded No. 3 in doubles as the automatic qualifier from the Big 12 Conference after earning All-America honors last year. A total of 32 doubles teams were selected. Dadamo and Krajicek won the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championship doubles crown last fall in Flushing, New York. The terrific tandem has been ranked as high as No. 1 in the ITA rankings and is currently ranked No. 4. This spring the duo is 24-3 in dual matches, all at No. 1 doubles. This will mark the fourth straight year for Krajicek to earn an NCAA invitation in doubles and the fourth All-America citation. Krajicek holds the Texas A&M school record for doubles victories with 106 wins entering NCAA play next week. As a freshman with Conor Pollock, the Aggie doubles team reached the Elite Eight, and when Krajicek was a sophomore, he and Pollock reached the quarterfinals. Last year, Krajicek and Dadamo were eliminated in the opening round.
In singles competition, Krajicek earned the automatic invite representing the Big 12 Conference. This marks the third straight year for Krajicek to earn an NCAA invitation to the singles championships. The first A&M three-time Big 12 singles champion, Krajicek won Big 12 titles at No. 1 this year, at the No. 1 line as a junior and at the No. 2 line in singles as a sophomore. Krajicek also became the first Big 12 Conference tennis player to earn Player of the Week honors three consecutive weeks (2011) and he earned Player of the Week honors six times in his A&M career. This spring the lefthander is 18-5 at the No. 1 line in dual matches with a 9-4 mark against nationally ranked opponents. He brings a seven-match winning streak into the first round team competition next week against Alcorn State.
Dadamo, who has played at the No. 2 singles line for A&M this spring and has compiled a 22-3 dual match record including a 21-3 mark at No. 2, has an 8-3 record against nationally ranked opponents this spring. Dadamo is on a four-match winning streak entering play next weekend against Alcorn State. He received an at-large invitation to join the 64-player field. Last year, Dadamo entered the NCAA singles championships ranked No. 39 and upset Wake Forest's No. 26-ranked player, Steven Forman, to advance to the round of 32 in singles play.
As a team, the Aggies are currently ranked No. 9 in the latest ITA rankings and received a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships that begin next weekend with A&M hosting Alcorn State at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 13. In the other first-round matchup in College Station, LSU will face Indiana. The two winners will face off on Saturday, May 14 at 3 p.m. for the right to advance to the round of 16 at Stanford.