KALAMAZOO, MI - The momentum of back-to-back Top 10 seasons for the Texas A&M men's tennis team appears to be in good hands as several young Aggie tennis players have posted impressive wins at the 2011 United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Championships this week in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
"I could not be more proud," Aggie head coach Steve Denton said. "The young guys have really stepped up their games and continue to work extremely hard and the results are playing out on a national stage."
On Tuesday, Junior Ore (pronounced OAR-a), who played as a true freshman in Aggieland this past spring, had the day's biggest upset as the No. 29 seed defeated the 2011 French Open Junior Champion and No. 3 seed Bjorn Fratangelo, 6-2, 6-4. Ore, from Gaithersburg, Maryland, had received a bye in the first round of action and polished off James Boyd in the second round, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. In the third round, Ore defeated Bert Vancura, 6-3, 6-1 before facing Fratangelo. Ore will now face Charles Depaolo in fifth round play.
In Monday's action, it was another Aggie, Jackson Withrow, making the loudest noise. Withrow defeated the No. 6 seed, Shane Vinsant, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round. Vinsant was the 2010 National 16s finalist. Withrow, from Omaha, Nebraska, redshirted this past spring at Texas A&M. In his first round match Withrow defeated Ryan Shane, 6-2, 6-0. In the second round, Withrow defeated Nicholas Mahlangu, 6-4, 6-2, before facing the No. 3 seed Vinsant in the third round. Withrow dropped his fourth-round match, a close, hard-fought match to Dennis Kmrtchian, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-5.
Aggie signee Jeremy Efferding posted a first-round victory over Andrew Scholnick, 6-0, 6-3 before dropping his second-round match to Garrett Gordon, 6-2, 7-5.
In doubles action, Texas A&M is making its presence known as Withrow has teamed with Jack Sock as the No. 1 seed in the field. After an opening round bye, Withrow and Sock defeated Eduardo Irizarry and Timothy Tan, 7-6 (2), 6-0. In third-round action, a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Aaron Gomez and Ryan Shane made for an Aggie pairing in the fourth round.
Efferding, who was born and raised in Dallas before moving with his parents to Boca Raton, Florida, signed with Texas A&M earlier this year. Efferding and his teammate, Hunter Callahan, were the No. 13 seed doubles tandem. The duo had a first-round bye and then beat Rickey Baylon and Spencer Simon, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (7). In the third round, Efferding and Callahan defeated Jason Brown and Mihir Kumar, 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (2).
Withrow and Sock faced off against Efferding and Callahan in the fourth round with the top seeded Withrow and Sock advancing to the quarterfinals, 7-5, 6-3.
In the other half of the doubles bracket, Ore has teamed with Mitchell Frank as the No. 5 seed in the field and has also advanced to the quarterfinal round. The duo opened with a bye and then beat Alexander and Ian Van Cott, 6-0, 7-5 and then moved past Paxton Deuel and Raymond Leonard, 6-0, 6-3 to advance to the fourth round where they faced the No. 11 seed tandem of Anthony Delcore and Austin Smith. Ore and Frank advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
In Wednesday's action, Withrow and Sock will face No. 10 seed Michael Redlicki and Robert Stineman while Ore and Mitchell will face No. 14 seed Brett Clark and Trey Strobel.
The grueling event has a great reward as the 18s Champions in Singles and Doubles receive an automatic bid to the main draw of the U.S. Open Tournament. Some of tennis biggest names such as Rod Laver, Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe, Michael Chang, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, James Blake have won this prestigious title. Former Texas A&M All-American Austin Krajicek won the singles title in 2008 and current Aggie assistant head coach Bob McKinley won the 18s singles crown in 1968 as well as teaming up with F.D. Robbins to win the doubles championship while a young 16-year-old by the name of Jimmy Connors was winning the National 16s title.
The Aggie men's tennis team posted a school-record 29-6 dual victory mark and won the 2011 Big 12 Championships while Krajicek and teammate Jeff Dadamo won the NCAA Doubles Championship earlier this year.