Cowboys Head To Memphis

Game Notes vs. Memphis

The Basics
After shutout victories against UNLV and Creighton at home, the Cowboys make their way to the Memphis, Tennessee as they take on the No. 45-ranked Memphis Tigers on Monday at noon. This will be the first match of the year in which the Cowboys will face a ranked opponent.

Follow the Match Live
Live stats for Monday's match can be found at www.gotigersgo.com. Also, live updates will be avaliable on the Oklahoma State men's tennis Twitter page (@CowboyTennis).

In the ITA Rankings
The Cowboys start the spring ranked No. 28 in the country with the Tigers sitting a few spots behind the Pokes at No. 45.

Three Pokes start the season with a spot in the singles rankings, as All-Americans Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe are No. 68 and No. 112. Junior Jurence Mendoza was ranked in singles for the first time in his Cowboy career at No. 85. Tiger Andrew Watson is the only Memphis player in the singles rankings at No. 87.

The doubles rankings feature three Cowboy duos, highlighted by All-American duo Kadhe/Cash at No. 9. OSU tandems Lukas Finzelberg/Mendoza and Tristan Meraut/Nathan Roper round out the doubles rankings at No. 53 and No. 56. There are no Tiger duos in the doubles rankings.

Straight Cash Homie!
All-American and Mississippi State-transfer Julian Cash has made his mark in his short time as a Cowboy. The sophomore finshed the fall season with eight wins in singles and 11 wins in doubles with partner Arjun Kadhe.

At the ITA Central Regional, Cash became the first Cowboy since 2009 to advance to both the singles and doubles final. The All-American won five straight singles matches at the tournament before falling to No. 50 Alexandru Ghilea in the singles final.
In doubles, the All-American tandem featuring Cash/Kadhe was a force to be reckoned with in the fall, as they won the back draw title at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Cowboy duo defeated No. 5-ranked Christian Seraphim/Skander Mansouri of Wake Forest in the semifinals.

By winning the back draw title, Cash/Kadhe earned a bid to the National Indoor Championships in November where they fell in the Round of 16 of the main draw and the semifinals of the back draw.

Cowboys Home Court Advantage
Since being opened in 2014, the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center has been a tremendous home court advantage for Oklahoma State men's tennis.
In two years, the Cowboys have won 21 of their 27 home matches, including five wins over teams ranked in the ITA top-60 in 2015. The Pokes will look to continue their home success this season as they host 13 matches this season, with eight of them coming against teams ranked in the top-50.

Cowboys vs. Opponents
The Cowboys have dominated the series between the two team as they have won six of the seven matches, including last year's match at the Greenwood Tennis Center where the Pokes held on to win, 4-2.

Big 12 Strongest in the Nation
The Big 12 conference features some of the most talented players in the nation, with all six teams in the conference being ranked in the ITA top 30. Oklahoma is the highest ranked team at No. 2, TCU and Baylor follow them at No. 3 and 4. The Longhorns sit at No. 12, as the Red Raiders and Pokes don't sit too far behind them at No. 17 and No. 28.

The only other conference with more teams in the ITA top-30 than the Big 12 is the SEC with seven teams. The ACC has five teams in the top-30 and both the Pac 12 and Big 10 feature four teams.

Cowboys Bring Home Silverado Invitational Title
Oklahoma State began the fall season in the "Golden State," with Cowboys Jurence Mendoza, Tristan Meraut, Nathan Roper and Lukas Finzelberg heading to Napa, California, for the Silverado Invitational. The field at the tournament included four teams inside the ITA top-60, including in-state rival No. 28 Tulsa and No. 47 SMU.

At the tournament, the Pokes dominated as Mendoza and Meraut went undefeated in their respective flights to claim their first singles titles as Cowboys. Over the course of the weekend, OSU combined for nine victories in singles and doubles play to clinch the team title at the tournament.

Former Cowboy Becomes Assistant Coach
Three-time All-American Jakob Sude was named an Undergraduate Student Assistant Coach by coach Jay Udwadia this season. After finishing his final year of eligibility last season, Sude looks to use the experience he gained while playing tennis at OSU.

As a Cowboy, the All-American was the consistent No. 1 for the Pokes, as he helped lead the Pokes to 39 victories over the past two seasons. In 2015, he won 14 singles matches last season, including a victory against the No. 1 player in the ITA Rankings, Soren Hess-Olsen, of Texas, 6-4, 6-2. Sude was also the first Cowboy since 2010 to earn All-American status in singles play, as the Cowboy made it all the way to the Round of 16 at the NCAA Singles Championships.

Fall Season Review
Oklahoma State's men's tennis squad is coming off one of the more impressive fall seasons in recent history, as they claimed four titles (two singles, one doubles and one team) throughout the fall.

In October, the Cowboys made their way to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the ITA All-American Championships. In the back draw, All-American duo Kadhe/Cash showed why they are one of the elite tandems in the nation. The duo won four consecutive matches to win the back draw title, including victories against the No. 5, No. 20 and No. 55-ranked doubles teams.

One ITA tournament would follow the other, as the Oklahoma State men's tennis team made their way to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the ITA Central Regionals. The tournament featured some of the best talent in the central region, but that didn't stop the Cowboys from showcasing theirs. Cowboys Lucas Gerch and Arjun Kadhe fell in the singles quarterfinals, with Cash finishing runner-up in singles.

Las Vegas would be the site for Jurence Mendoza and Nathan Roper's final tournament of the fall, as they competed at the Larry Easley Memorial Classic hosted by UNLV. The Cowboys collected five wins at the tournament and finished runner-up in the doubles bracket.

To conclude the fall season, Kadhe/Cash would travel to the "Big Apple" for the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing Meadows, New York. The All-American tandem defeated No. 16 Henry Craig/Alex Gasson of Denver in the first round, which marked the first time since 2009 that an Oklahoma State player had advanced past the first round at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships.

Cowboys Add Two Players to Spring Roster
Oklahoma State head coach Jay Udwadia and Cowboy Tennis welcomed two new players to the squad in January.

Joining the Pokes this spring as a true freshman is Mateo Ruiz Naranjo from Bucaramanga, Colombia. The 6-foot-1 freshman has played numerous international matches earning the No. 1071 doubles ranking and No. 1237 singles ranking in the ATP World Tour. In 2015, Naranjo won the Colombia F8 Futures doubles title.

The second Cowboy headed to Stillwater is Temur Ismailov, who comes from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The sophomore comes in with some impressive international status, as he is currently ranked in the ATP top-500 in singles at No. 446. Ismailov has won three international singles titles, including the Kazakhstan F3 Futures and Uzbekistan F4 Futures singles titles in 2015.

Kadhe Looks For Third-Straight All-American Season
Last season, Kadhe and his former doubles partner Jakob Sude were the first Cowboy doubles team in Oklahoma State history to earn back-to-back All-American honors.

Kadhe looks to become only the second Cowboy in Oklahoma State history to earn three All-American honors. The only other Cowboy to have three All-American honors is Oleksandr Nedovyesov (2008-2010).

He will have a good chance at completeing the task, as Kadhe and his new doubles partner Julian Cash have already developed great chemistry together by winning the back draw at the ITA All-American Championship and finishing runner-up in the double main draw at the ITA Central Regional during the fall season.

Follow Cowboy Tennis
Stay up to date with the Oklahoma State men's tennis team on the following social media sites:
   Twitter: @CowboyTennis
   Instagram: @CowboyTennis
   Facebook: Oklahoma State Cowboy Tennis
   Snapchat: OSUathletics
   YouTube: youtube.com/osuathletics

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Julian Cash

Lukas Finzelberg

Lucas Gerch

Temur Ismailov

Arjun Kadhe

Jurence Mendoza

Tristan Meraut

Nathan Roper

Mateo Ruiz Naranjo

Jakob Sude

Oklahoma State University Athletics