The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M
No. 8 Men's Tennis defeats No. 17 Texas A&M, 4-3
02.05.2010 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 5, 2010
HOUSTON -- No. 8 Texas (4-0) collected the doubles point and won three of the first four decisions in singles play Friday evening as the Longhorns dealt No. 17 Texas A&M (1-2) a 4-3 defeat in a renewal of the Texas Cup, a series of non-conference, indoor matches between the two schools at The Downtown Club at The Met. Texas improves to 6-0 in its Texas Cup matches against the Aggies.
Texas came out aggressively in doubles play and swept the Aggies to take the doubles point. Seniors Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala posted an 8-4 win over Jeff Dadamo and Austin Krajicek at the first slot, and UT juniors Ed Corrie and Kellen Damico added an 8-6 win over the Aggies' Niall Angus and Alexis Klegou at the second slot. Sophomore Jean Andersen and freshman Daniel Whitehead finished off the Aggies with an 8-3 win at third doubles over Alexey Grigorov and Marcus Lunt.
Texas assumed a 2-0 lead at fifth singles, where Andersen defeated the Aggies' Alberto Bautista by a 6-3, 6-4 count. Texas A&M got on the board at second singles, where Dadamo defeated UT's Corrie, 6-3, 6-4. But, Texas would put the match away with consecutive victories at sixth singles and third singles.
UT freshman Vasko Mladenov knocked off Texas A&M's Angus by a 7-5, 6-4 margin at sixth singles, and Damico won his 14th consecutive dual-match decision and outlasted Klegou at third singles, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3. Texas A&M closed the final margin to 4-3 when Krajicek rallied for a three-set victory over Kutrovsky at first singles and Grigorov knocked off Zavala in a third-set super-tiebreaker at fourth singles.
Texas resumes play on Friday, Feb. 12 when it takes on No. 9 Stanford in the opening round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at The University of Virginia.
No. 8 Texas 4, No. 17 Texas A&M 3
The Downtown Club at The Met (indoors)
Doubles
1 #22 Zavala/Kutrovsky (UT) def. #18 Dadamo/Krajicek (TAMU) - 8-4
2 Corrie/Damico def. Angus/Klegou (TAMU) - 8-6
3 Andersen/Whitehead def. Grigorov/Lunt (TAMU) - 8-3
Singles - Order of finish - 5, 2, 6, 3, 1, 4
1 Austin Krajicek (TAMU) def. #5 Dimitar Kutrovsky (UT) - 6-7, 6-4, 6-2
2 #32 Jeff Dadamo (TAMU) def. #9 Ed Corrie (UT) - 6-3, 6-4
3 Kellen Damico (UT) def. Alexis Klegou (TAMU) - 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
4 Alexey Grigorov (TAMU) def. #38 Josh Zavala (TAMU) - 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-3)
5 Jean Andersen def. Alberto Bautista (TAMU) - 6-3, 6-4
6 #104 Vasko Mladenov (UT) def. Niall Angus (TAMU) - 7-5, 6-4
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
"It was a very tough match. I thought we played great in doubles. I didn't get to see much of our guys at third doubles, though I know we played well. Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala came out and played a tremendous match at No. 1 doubles. We won five first sets in singles, but Texas A&M fought back, and we knew they would. It was a tough, tough match. Like I said earlier in the week, the Aggies are very explosive, and they made some great plays to stay in the match. We have been getting contributions from everyone. A couple of our newcomers, Jean Andersen and Vasko Mladenov, played very well for us and got us up. Kellen (Damico) went up 5-0 in the third and held on for the win. I thought it was a hard-fought match, but our guys did a great job. They continue to improve."
