Oklahoma State University Athletics
Men's Tennis Player Feature
June 21, 1999 | Cowboy Tennis
By Cindy Harrel
At a school mainly known for having national champions in wrestling and golf, Oklahoma State is finding a new national star on the men's tennis team.
And he's not even from the United States. Senior Pavel Kudrnac, a native of Pilsen, Czech Republic, became the first ever tennis player from OSU or any other Big 12 school to win a national title. He did this not only once, but twice in the same weekend. With those wins, he also earned the No.1 ranking in the country in both singles and doubles.
Kudrnac currently is 20-3 in singles after falling twice this past weekend at the Third Annual UCSB Gaucho Tennis Classic. Kudrnac teams up with Martin Dvoracek in doubles. The No. 1 tandem has an 18-3 record after losing one match last weekend. Although the losses may hurt the Cowboy in the rankings, he still is in the OSU record books.
While at the Rolex National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships on Feb. 18 in Dallas, he defeated Tulane's Robert Samuelsson 6-4, 6-4 in the finals to win the title.
This came just the day after Kudrnac paired up with Dvoracek to beat Stanford's Mike and Bob Bryan. This win made Kudrnac the first person since 1987 to sweep both titles at the Rolex Championships.
"It feels very good," Kudrnac said of the weekend in Dallas. "I didn't expect it to be like this. I've come out and dominated really good guys. There are maybe 50 guys I could lose to if I don't play my best. All of the national tournaments that I've played are very tough and I have to play really, really well to win them. I'm happy I did, and I'm just going to try to play like I do now and keep winning."
The Kudrnac-Dvoracek duo jumped from 13th-ranked to No. 1 in the country when they knocked the Bryans out of first place in the national rankings. Kudrnac also earned a No. 1 ranking in the singles category after being the second-best player in the previous rankings.
Kudrnac transferred to OSU from West Bohemian University and did not compete during the 1995-1996 school year. During his first year as a Cowboy, he recorded a 15-6 singles record and a 16-3 doubles record with Dvoracek.
During the fall of 1997, Kudrnac improved his play with a 7-1 singles record, which included winning the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships. He and Dvoracek also had a 6-2 doubles record and won the Rolex Region V Regional.
All of this has come with making very little change to his game, Kudrnac said. "I haven't practiced more than I do," he said. "It's much less, actually. I should have practiced much more, but I just can't find enough time for it. I just play and try to enjoy my game playing tennis and have fun. It's nice when I can win some tournaments.
"It's just the feeling of my game (that has changed). It's a little bit better. I feel more confident now. It feels better. I can feel that I'm hitting better than I did. It probably can change again. You never know. I can play good for six months, and just depends."
Despite his recent success, Kudrnac is unsure what he will do once he receives his business degree in May.
"I wasn't sure for a long time. I'm still not sure," he said. "I have to try to go pro. So far I've had a good year, so I feel confident. I have to try at least. So if I'm going to be able to graduate in May and get my degree, I'm probably going to try to go pro and try for one year if I can make it. If not, I will go back home and study some more."
Even though Kudrnac began playing tennis at a fairly early age, he said it wasn't until a few years ago that he decided to stick with the sport. "My parents brought me to tennis," Kudrnac said. "My mom is a big fan of tennis, so I started in a small club in my hometown. I didn't play much; I just played a few times a week. I wasn't very good until I was 16 or 17. I just concentrated on school and wanted to get my high school done and preferably college done. When I was 17, I got a little bit better and I played in some tournaments. And that's what I've done for the last six or seven years."
