Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Ready for Big 12 Championship
April 29, 2010 | Cowboy Tennis
April 29, 2010
The Basics
The No. 49 Oklahoma State men's tennis team travels to Austin, Texas, this weekend to compete at the 2010 Big 12 Men's Tennis Championship, hosted by Texas at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center. The Cowboys, seeded No. 7, take on No. 2-seeded and 10th-ranked Texas A&M in the opening round Friday at noon.
About the Cowboys
The Cowboys enter the weekend with an 8-12 (0-6) record on the year. OSU has faced 14-consecutive ranked opponents, with this match marking the 15th straight. In those 14 matches, Oklahoma State has gone 5-9, recording wins over then-No. 34 Tulsa, No. 41 Hawai'i, No. 56 UNLV, No. 44 Penn State and No. 63 UCF. The Cowboys have also defeated Memphis, Sacramento State and Western Michigan in 2010. OSU returns three letterwinners from last year's squad, which finished with a 14-8 record and reached the NCAA Tournament for a school-record seventh consecutive season.
About the Opponents
Texas A&M enters the match with a 21-5 overall record and a 5-1 mark in Big 12 competition. The Aggies are coming off of a 7-0 win over TCU and have won 14 of their last 15 matches. TAMU is ranked No. 10 in the ITA team rankings and holds a pair of places in the ITA singles and doubles rankings. Austin Krajicek and Jeff Dadamo are ranked No. 7 and 44, respectively, in the singles rankings, while the duo combines to form the No. 5 doubles tandem. Alexey Grigorov and Marcus Lunt also combine for the 43rd-ranked doubles team. TAMU holds a 17-10 all-time series advantage over OSU, with the Aggies winning the last match earlier this year, 7-0.
Stout Competition
Oklahoma State has faced 17 different opponents in 20 matches this year. Among those opponents, 14 are ranked in the latest ITA poll, including five in the top-15. Also, five of the Cowboys eight wins this year have come against teams in the ITA rankings and the Cowboys' last 14 matches have been against ranked opponents.
All About Oleksandr
Oklahoma State senior Oleksandr Nedovyesov has already left his mark as one of the best athletes in the history of the Cowboy tennis program. Nedovyesov was named the 2009 ITA Player of the Year and has been the No. 1-ranked singles player for much of his career. Nedovyesov finished the 2010 regular season with a 17-3(5-1) record at No. 1 singles, sharing the Big 12 No. 1 singles title with Texas A&M's Austin Krajicek. Nedovyesov also finished the 2009 fall campaign with a 12-3 record, winning the ITA Central Regional Championships.
"He is the highest-ranked ATP player we have ever recruited," coach James Wadley said. "He is an unbelievable talent. He has solid strokes in every area. As the defending player of the year, it will be difficult for him this season. Everyone is going to be gunning and going after him. He knows that, and he needs to rise to the challenge. He has risen to the challenge before, and he will again."
Cowboys in the Rankings
Oklahoma State finished the 2009 season ranked No. 25 in the final ITA team rankings, which is where it opened the 2010 season. Since then, the Cowboys have been ranked in every ITA poll in 2010. OSU holds the No. 49 spot in the latest edition of the rankings (April 27) after being No. 44 in the previous poll. In addition to the team ranking, Oleksandr Nedovyesov and Anton Bobytskyi are ranked in the ITA singles rankings at No. 5 and No. 112, respectively, while Nedovyesov and Aleksey Bessonov are the 16th-ranked doubles team.
Up Next
If the Cowboys defeat the Aggies Friday, they advance to Saturday's semifinal match at noon, where they would face the winner of the Baylor vs. Nebraska quarterfinal match.
