The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Men’s Tennis signs international standouts Ojakaar, Dedura-Palomero
11.26.2024 | Men's Tennis
Oliver Ojakaar of Tartu, Estonia, and Mariano Dedura-Palomero of Berlin, Germany, have both signed to join the UT program.
Austin – University of Texas Men's Tennis has signed international standouts Oliver Ojakaar and Mariano Dedura-Palomero to Athletic Scholarship Agreements (ASA), head coach Bruce Berque announced Tuesday. Ojakaar will join the program for the upcoming spring season, while Dedura-Palomero will arrive in the fall of 2025.
"We are beyond thrilled that Oliver has decided to join us for the upcoming season," Berque said. "We expect him to have a major impact on both our singles and doubles lineups, and we will do everything we can to make sure he has a great experience as a Longhorn and stays on track to accomplish his long-term goals in the sport."
"We enjoyed getting to know Mariano during his visit, and we are very happy that he decided Texas would be the best fit for him," Berque added. "Not only is he a highly accomplished tennis player, but he is also extremely driven and hard-working. Mariano is strong both physically and mentally, and we're confident that he will bring a lot to our program in the years to come."
A native of Tartu, Estonia, Ojakaar was one of the top juniors players in the world with a career high ranking of No. 10, while he is also currently ranked No. 948 in singles and No. 1436 in doubles by the ATP. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 869.
In juniors, Ojakaar won the 2023 U.S. Open doubles title with partner Max Dahlin, while he also reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the round of 32 at Roland Garros in doubles. In singles that year, he made the round of 16 at the Australian Open, the round of 32 at the U.S. Open and the round of 64 at Roland Garros.
Ojakaar has won five juniors singles titles in his career, including the J300 Vrsar in Croatia in 2023, the J4 Tallinn in Estonia in 2022, and two J4 Doha tournaments in Qatar, along with the J5 Jurmala in Latvia in 2021.
In doubles, Ojakaar has six more doubles titles with two coming in 2023 in the J300 Villena in Spain and the J200 Siauliai in Lithuania. He won two others in 2022 in the J2 Cairo in Egypt, and the J1 Prague in the Czech Republic, along with the J4 Doha in 2021, and the J5 Tartu in Estonia in 2020.
In pro tennis, Ojakaar has advanced to the singles quarterfinals of six tournaments, including the final of the M15 Sharm ElSheikh in Egypt in 2024, and the semifinals of the M15 Heraklion in Greece in 2023. He has gotten to the quarterfinals in doubles three times, twice making the semifinals, first of the M15 Krsko in Slovakia in 2023, and then the M15 Poitiers in France in 2024.
Dedura-Palomero is a native of Berlin, Germany and currently ranked No. 959 in singles and No. 1,845 by the ATP, which are his career highs.
He has reached at least the quarterfinals in singles or doubles of pro tournaments six times in his career, including the singles final of the 2024 M15 Kamen in Germany, which he advanced to out of qualifying with six wins. He also made the doubles semifinals of that same tournament. Additionally, he made the singles semifinals of the M15 Eupen in Belgium, again emerging from qualifying with five wins.
In juniors, he won the singles title at the J5 Ingelheim and went to the final of the J5 Siauliai in Lithuania in 2022. He won four titles in doubles, including the J200 Santiago in Chile in 2023, and three J5 tournaments with two in Siauliai, and one in Merzig in Germany.
Dedura-Palomero has also had national success, ranking as the No. 6 player in Germany from his 2005 birth year, and the No. 9 under-18 player from that year. He made the final of the German indoor nationals in 2022, and he is currently No. 68 in the German men's national rankings.