Spring Preview: Men's Tennis

The 2024 Texas A&M men’s tennis team starts the spring season Saturday at the Sherwood Intercollegiate in Thousand Oaks, California.

The Maroon & White played in the Big 12 – SEC Challenge and the ITA All-American Championships in the fall to get themselves ready for the spring season.

The Staff

Steve Denton is entering his 18th season at the helm. With 347 victories and 21 NCAA Tournament wins, Denton is the all-time winningest coach in Texas A&M men’s tennis history. The U.S. Open doubles champion and former All-American has led A&M to five 25-win seasons during the last decade. Denton guided the 2018 team to an undefeated SEC regular season, which was the first time in Texas A&M history.

This marks Kevin O’Shea’s 14th season with the men’s tennis program and his second season as associate head coach. Former Texas A&M All-American Barnaby Smith is in his first year as an assistant coach for the Maroon & White. Smith was a part of the 2018 SEC Championship and NCAA Final Four team.

The coaching staff is known for developing professionals, including French Open doubles winner and the No. 1 Doubles Player in the World, Austin Krajicek and Jackson Withrow, who has won six ATP doubles titles. 

The Returners

The Aggies bring back a wealth of experience for the 2024 season. 2023 All-SEC First Team selection Raphael Perot logged a singles record of 22-17, including eight ranked wins in 2023. He qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship for the first time in his career. 

ITA ranked singles player, No. 93 Luke Casper, had a good fall showing with a 2-1 record in singles play at the Big 12 – SEC Challenge and was a perfect 3-0 in doubles competition. Casper registered 2-1 singles record at the ITA All-American Championships.

JC Roddick, who is ITA singles ranked No. 109 recorded a singles record of 13-5 in his debut season in 2023. He ended the season on a five-match win streak and earned three ranked wins. Roddick had an impressive fall, earning MVP honors after going 6-0 in the Big 12 – SEC Challenge and posting a 5-1 record in singles competition at the ITA All-American Championships, advancing to the second round of qualifying. 

Matthis Ross concluded the 2023 season with a 16-8 record in singles action, including an impressive, ranked win over South Carolina’s No. 96 Casey Hoole.

Giulio Perego registered a singles-play record of 2-1 at the Big 12 – SEC Challenge and went 3-0 in doubles play. Perego went 2-1 at the ITA All-American Championships, making it to the round of 16 in qualifying in singles play and went 2-1 in doubles play. 

Kenner Taylor logged a singles record of 13-4 in the 2023 season. Taylor went undefeated in dual match play and claimed a ranked win over UCLA’s No. 89 Giacomo Revello. 

Redshirt freshman Grant Lothringer returns to the team to compete in his first season with the Aggies. 

The Newcomers

Denton added freshmen Brayden Michna, Ritesh Patil, Tiago Pires and Lathan Skrobarcek to the mix along with sophomore transfers Togan Tokac (Florida) and Ethan Silva (Clemson). Michna got some action in the fall, going 3-1 at the ITA All-American Championships. Patil, Pires and Skrobarcek make their debuts in the spring. 

Tokac had a great fall season, registering a 2-1 record in singles play at the Big 12 – SEC Challenge and 3-0 in doubles play. He posted a 4-1 record at the ITA All-American Championships in singles and 2-1 in doubles competition. Midyear transfer Silva looks forward to making an impact in the spring.

Looking Ahead

The Maroon & White travel to California for the Sherwood Intercollegiate from Jan. 13-15. The field includes players from No. 7 USC, UCLA, and Cal. 

A&M remains in California to play UCLA on Jan. 17 and heads to Georgia Southern on Jan. 25.

Staying in the Peach State, the Maroon & White will travel from Atlanta to Athens, Georgia, for the 2024 ITA Kickoff Weekend held Jan. 28-29. The Aggies face Auburn in the opening round with No. 18 Georgia or Louisiana facing the winner the next day.

Before conference play starts, A&M hosts a couple of out-of-league opponents in SMU (Feb. 2) and Pepperdine (Feb. 25), along with a match against A&M-Corpus Christi as part of a doubleheader after the Pepperdine match.

The Aggies’ conference slate features 12 matches. A&M hosts No. 17 Mississippi State (March 8), Ole Miss (March 10), No. 6 Tennessee (March 15,) No. 18 Georgia (March 17), Vanderbilt (March 29), and Arkansas (April 7). 

The Maroon & White hit the road during conference play to take on No. 23 Florida (March 1), No. 5 South Carolina (March 3), No. 11 Kentucky (March 22), LSU (March 31), Auburn (April 12), and Alabama (April 14).

Throughout the SEC slate, A&M plays six out-of-conference opponents with UIW (March 8), Lamar (March 10), UTRGV (March 13), and ACU (March 29) all coming to the Brazos Valley. The Aggies also host No. 2 Ohio State (March 13) and travel to future SEC opponent No. 22 Oklahoma (April 2).