Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Begin Big 12 Play in Stillwater
March 26, 2015 | Cowboy Tennis
The Basics
OSU's men's tennis team, ranked No. 22, will host two conference matches this weekend at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center. The Cowboys play their conference opener on Friday, facing No. 7 Texas at 6 p.m. On Sunday, OSU will play No. 10 TCU at 1 p.m.
Keep Up with the Matches
Fans can follow all the action this weekend through updates on Twitter by following@CowboyTennis. Live stats for each match can be found on okstate.com.
Kid's Day on Sunday
The Cowboy tennis squad will host a kid's day during Sunday's match vs. TCU. There will be a bounce house, special prizes and giveaways and a clinic at intermission. Kids wanting to participate in the clinic need to bring their own racquet.
In the ITA Rankings
The Cowboys enter the weekend ranked No. 22 in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings. Texas holds a No. 7 ranking and TCU holds a No. 10 ranking.
Senior All-American Jakob Sude is the only OSU player in the ITA singles rankings moving to No. 87. The Cowboys will see six ranked players this weekend including No. 1 Søren Hess-Olesen, No. 34 Lloyd Glasspool and No. 72 Adrien Berkowicz of Texas and No. 36 Nick Chappell, No. 37 Cameron Norrie and No. 76 Guillermo Nunez of TCU.
Kadhe and Sude enter the weekend cemented as the 24th-ranked doubles team in the nation. Texas' Hess-Olsen pairs up with Glasspool as the No. 41 doubles team. TCU features three ranked doubles teams including No. 18 Norrie and Johnson.
Last Time Out
Oklahoma State went 3-0 last week, visiting No. 34 SMU, Texas Pan-American and No. 46 Dartmouth. The Pokes snuck past SMU, 4-3 and shutout Texas Pan-American, 4-0 on Wednesday before outlasting Dartmouth, 4-2 on Sunday.
No. 31 Oklahoma State 4, No. 46 Dartmouth 2
March 22, 2015 :: Fort Worth, Texas
Doubles | Order of finish: 1,3
1. #27 Sakinis/Kipouras (DART) def. #16 Sude/Kadhe (OSU), 7-5
2. Ferrigno/Gerch (OSU) vs. Tannenbaum/Schmidt (DART), 6-6 (4-3)
3. Todd/Pedraza (DART) def. Mendoza/Finzelberg (OSU), 7-6(5)
Singles | Order of finish: 3,5,2,1*,6
1. #102 Jakob Sude (OSU) def. #80 Dovydas Sakinis (DART), 7-5, 7-6(5)
2. Lucas Gerch (OSU) def. Chris Kipouras (DART), 7-6(2), 6-3
3. #122 Arjun Kadhe (OSU) def. Ciro Riccardi (DART), 6-4, 6-3
4. Tristan Meraut (OSU) vs. Diego Pedraza (DART), 6-7(5), 6-3, unf.
5. Nicolai Ferrigno (OSU) def. Brendan Tannenbaum (DART), 6-1, 7-6(1)
6. Max Schmidt (DART) def. Jurence Mendoza (DART), 6-3, 7-5
Gerch and Ferrigno Win Doubles Championship
For the first time in the 126-year history of the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championship, an Oklahoma State doubles team has won the tournament.
In the semifinals, the two Cowboys faced the Bacharach/McKelvie team of Davis. With a dominant 6-3, 6-1 win over the Davis duo, Ferrigno and Gerch advanced to the finals, where they met up with top-seeded Thibault Forget and Roberto Quiroz of USC. In the finals, the OSU tandem produced another straight-set victory, taking the championship title with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
They join names like Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe and Peter Fleming as Pacific Coast Champions.
On A Roll
Sophomore Lucas Gerch has only given up one match this spring in singles, boasting a 13-1 record. Gerch plays primarily at the No. 3 spot, but has notched wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. All but three of his wins came in straight sets.
Freshman Trent Botha is undefeated this spring, making two appearances at the No. 6 spot and one appearance on court five. Last weekend, he notched a straight-set upset win over No. 54 Andrew Watson of Memphis.
Nathan Roper, a sophomore for the Pokes, has competed in three matches, compiling a 1-0 record with two of his matches going unfinished.
Scheduling Tough
The Cowboys have faced 12 ranked opponents within their last 15 matches. Against those opponents, Oklahoma State is 9-3. Most recently, the Cowboys took down No. 46 Dartmouth, 4-2. The Cowboys also notched a win over No. 17 Tennessee earlier this season.
Big 12 Strongest in the Nation
The Big 12 conference is one of the most competitive men's tennis leagues in nation, with all six teams ranked in the top 25. Four teams sit in the top 10: Oklahoma (1), Baylor (2), Texas (7) and TCU (10). OSU is ranked 22 and Texas Tech rounds out the conference in the 25th spot.
Cowboys vs. Opponents
Oklahoma State holds the series lead over TCU, 7-3. The Cowboys last defeated the Horned Frogs in 2014, 4-3. Texas holds a 3-24 series lead against the Cowboys. The Cowboys look to break their nine-match losing streak to the Longhorns. Oklahoma State's last win against Texas was in 2007.
Former Cowboy Nedovyesov Earns Biggest Pro Win of Career
Oleksandr Nedovyesov, a former Cowboy Tennis star, defeated Italian Fabio Fognini in the Davis Cup to advance Kazakhstan to the quarterfinals.
Nedovyesov was trailing two sets to one, before storming back to defeat the World's No. 22 player in five sets. The former OSU standout is currently ranked No. 130 in the World.
Fall Review
Oklahoma State is coming off a fall season, where several Cowboys gained experience, playing all over the country. The Pokes had a strong showing as three players picked up at least one win at the ITA All-American Championship, which is considered the most prestigious tournament of fall.
Arjun Kadhe produced a runner-up finish at the Cajun Classic early in the fall and finished out his fall advancing to the round of 16 at the ITA Central Region Championships.
Nicolai Ferrigno also made his way to the round of 16 of the ITA Central Regional, notching a dominant straight-set win over Amar Saletovic (ORU).
All-American Jakob Sude competed in only two events this fall: ITA All-American Championship and ITA Central Region Championship.
The Team
Coach Jay Udwadia enters the 2015 spring season with a full roster of 10 Cowboys. He returns two All-Americans in senior Jakob Sude and sophomore Arjun Kadhe as well as the team's Most Valuable Player for the 2014 season, Lucas Gerch. Denmark native and senior Nicolai Ferrigno returns for his second and final season with the Cowboys, while youngsters Nathan Roper and Lukas Finzelberg round out the returners for the Pokes.
New to the lineup is Jurence Mendoza, who enters his second semester as a Cowboy. Joining the squad in January was Trent Botha of South Africa, Leonard Gerch of Germany and Tristan Meraut of France.
Feldman Joins the Coaching Staff
This summer, the Pokes welcomed Nate Feldman to the coaching staff as an assistant coach.
Feldman joins the Cowboys after spending the last three years at Norfolk State, where he coached both the men's and women's tennis squads.
Before taking over at Norfolk State, Feldman gained invaluable coaching experience as an assistant at multiple top-tier programs, including a role with the 2010 North Carolina women's team, which reached the NCAA Semifinals and spent four weeks as the nation's top-ranked team. He helped guide the Middle Tennessee State men's squad to a Sun Belt tournament title, earning him a nomination for the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Assistant Coach of the Year award.
Feldman also served as an ITF travel coach, which took him all over the United States and South America.
ITA Introduces New Dual Match Format
In December, the ITA Division I Operating Committee made changes to the dual match format so that it shortens the length of the match. Changes include:
-No-ad scoring in singles and doubles.
-Three doubles matches played, each match one set to 6, with a tie-break at 6-all.
-Followed (after a 5-minute intermission) by six singles matches, each match 2 out of 3 sets, with tie-breaks at 6-all.
-No warm-up with opponents (in doubles and in singles)
Follow Cowboy Tennis
Stay up to date with the Oklahoma State men's tennis team on the following social media sites:
Twitter: @CowboyTennis
Facebook: Oklahoma State Cowboy Tennis
Snapchat: OSUathletics
YouTube: youtube.com/osuathletics
