The Texas A&M men’s tennis team is going to need all the rest it can get before Wednesday, when it travels to Fort Worth to take on No. 13 Texas Christian University.
The trip will mark the beginning of a 10-day stretch of five meets, including three on the road for the No. 9 Aggies (7-3).
“This is going to be a pretty important week for our guys,” said A&M head coach Tim Cass. “This, thankfully, will be the last really tough road trip of the season.”
The Aggies are familiar with the road at this point in the season, with six of their last seven matches being on the road. A&M played four ranked teams in that span, winning only one of those meets against then-ranked No. 12 California. Their only home game was last Sunday against Lamar, when the Aggies easily defeated the Cardinals, 7-0.
The Aggies will first have to focus on beating longtime tennis giant TCU (3-0). Cass said the Horned Frogs have always presented a challenge regardless of their ranking.
“We had a really tough match against them last year,” Cass said. “We’ve always seemed to have real similar teams; that makes for good matches.”
TCU’s tennis program during the last 15 years has seen a men’s team ranked in the top 30, including a few top-5 rankings. TCU has been climbing the NCAA rankings recently, jumping first from 18 to 16 and to 13 this week.
TCU head coach Joey Rive said he is glad to see his team’s recent success and hopes the success continues Wednesday.
TCU head coach Joey Rive said he is glad to see his team’s recent success and hopes the success continues Wednesday.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for us,” Rive said. “We’re neck and neck right now though, so there shouldn’t be any blowouts.”
The national No. 1 A&M doubles team of juniors Lester Cook and Ante Matijevic should be ready and well-rested after having the weekend off.
The pair will face the national No. 19 TCU duo of Rafael Abreu and Fabrizio Sestini in what should be the most intense match of the day.
Cook said the break was much needed because both he and Matijevic had been a little banged up from playing indoors.
“They’re going to be tough – we’re going to have to step it up and take care of business,” Cook said.
On the singles side, Cook is going to have to face his one pet peeve on the court – left-handed players.
Cook is slated to face lefty TCU senior Alex Menichini who is undefeated this season. Cook said the angles left-handers can hit give them an advantage.
“It’s always a challenge for me to play them,” Cook said. “I really really hate playing lefties.”
A&M senior Mohamed Dakki said he is prepared for the challenge that TCU will present and hopes the rest of the Aggies are as well.
“Every guy is going to have to step it up a little bit,” Dakki said. “I’m ready to fight.”
Cass said the result of the TCU meet won’t dictate the rest of the weekend, but it could help set the tone. A win was not only important for the road trip and season, he said, but for the old rivalry between the schools.
“It’s one of the ones we always want to win every year,” Cass said.A&M is set to play TCU Wed. at 1:30 p.m. The Aggies will face Neb. on Friday and will finish off the weekend on Sunday against Colorado.