Texas A&M
Oklahoma State
Klegou leads No. 6 Texas A&M to 7-0 Win Over Oklahoma State
Mar 25, 2011 | Men's Tennis
March 25, 2011
STILLWATER, OK-- Junior Alexis Klegou, from Dunkerque, France, had his most complete match of the season as he helped lead the No. 6-ranked Texas A&M men's tennis team to a Big 12 opening victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys, 7-0, at the DeBois Tennis Complex in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The win improves the Aggies' record to 16-4 on the year and 1-0 in Big 12 play while OSU falls to 3-7 and 0-1.
Klegou, currently ranked No. 100 in the latest ITA rankings, played at the No. 3 line and was the first singles match off the court with a 6-0, 6-0 straight set victory over OSU's Aleksey Bessonov.
"Klegou played exceptionally well today," Aggie head coach Steve Denton said. "This was his most complete match of the year from start to finish. He really played well against an OSU (Bessonov) player we have had some difficulty with in recent matches."
Another bright spot for Texas A&M was the return of fellow junior Colin Hoover to the singles lineup. Hoover has not been feeling well for the past couple of weeks and has only played doubles. The Victoria native defeated Tomas Patino, 6-1, 6-1 on the No. 6 line to clinch the match.
"We needed Colin to come out and kick off some of the cobwebs," Denton explained. "Once he got into the match he found his rhythm and played well. It was good to have him back in the singles lineup."
The three Texas A&M doubles teams are all ranked nationally and Alberto Bautista and Hoover were first off with an 8-2 win at the No. 3 doubles followed by second-ranked doubles tandem of Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo taking an 8-3 win at the No. 1 doubles to clinch the doubles point. Freshman Junior Ore and senior Alexey Grigorov made it a clean sweep with an 8-6 win at the No. 2 doubles.
"We really did a good job at doubles and played solid and that helped us take control early and the guys really came out focused today to start Big 12 play," Denton stated. "
Every singles match but one was a straight set victory for the Aggies.
The win, A&M's 11 in the last 12 matches, gives the team momentum going into a Sunday 1 p.m. match against No. 30-ranked Oklahoma on Sunday in Norman.
"The competition steps up on Sunday against a team that went to the Elite Eight last year and a team that has a little more confidence and is deeper," Denton said. "They play really well at home and we will have our work cut out for us."
No. 6 Texas A&M 7, Oklahoma State 0 DOUBLES No. 1 - #2 Jeff Dadamo/Austin Krajicek (TAMU) def. #13 Aleksey Bessonov/Rifat Biktyakov (OSU) 8-3 No. 2 - #63 Alexey Grigorov/Junior Ore (TAMU) def. Maniel Bains/Eric West (OSU) 8-6 No. 3 - #53 Alberto Bautista/Colin Hoover (TAMU) def. Vlad Bondarenko/Tomas Patiño (OSU) 8-2 SINGLES No. 1 - #23 Austin Krajicek (TAMU) def. #110 Maniel Bains (OSU) 6-3, 6-4 No. 2 - #62 Jeff Dadamo (TAMU) def. Vlad Bondareno (OSU) 6-3, 6-2 No. 3 - #100 Alexis Klegou (TAMU) def. Aleksey Bessonov (OSU) 6-0, 6-0 No. 4 - Alexey Grigorov (TAMU) def. Eric West (OSU) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9) No. 5 - Alberto Bautista (TAMU) def. Ilija Martinoski (OSU) 7-6(5), 6-3 No. 6 - Colin Hoover (TAMU) def. Tomas Patiño (OSU) 6-1, 6-1 Match Notes: Orders of finish - Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,2,6*,1,4,5) Oklahoma State: 3-7 (0-1) Texas A&M: 16-4 (1-0) Match time: 2:47
Players Mentioned
