Austin Krajicek put Texas A&M in the international spotlight on Saturday as his run in the men’s tennis doubles competition of the Paris Summer Olympics fell just short of a gold medal.

Krajicek, a 2021 A&M Athletics Hall of Fame inductee that shined on the courts for the Aggies from 2008 to 2011, is coming home with silver for Team USA as he and partner Rajeev Ram fell to Australia’s Matthew Ebden and John Peers, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (1-7), 8-10, in the gold medal match at Roland-Garros Stadium.

At 34 years old, Krajicek becomes the first player in A&M men’s tennis history to earn a medal at the Summer Olympics while helping the U.S. gain its first medal in men’s doubles since the 2012 London Games. The medal adds to Krajicek’s list of accomplishments that includes the 2011 NCAA Doubles Championship title and four doubles All-American honors with the Aggies.

The loss came at the same site of Krajicek’s 2023 French Open men’s doubles title with Croatia’s Ivan Dodig. Krajicek was the world’s No. 1 doubles player last season before his current standing of No. 18. He came in fourth place in men’s doubles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Tennys Sandgren.

After Krajicek and Ram opened the first set with a 4-2 lead, Ebden and Peers roared back to force a tiebreaker at 6-all. The Americans jumped to a 6-4 advantage to reach set point, but the Australians bounced back to even it up. Krajicek and Ram then picked up two points in a row to take the opening set.

Team USA got off to another quick start in the second set for a 4-2 advantage, but Australia rebounded to claim the next three games before the teams forced another tiebreaker. Ebden and Peers dominated the tiebreaker 7-1, evening the match at one set a piece.

Australia’s momentum carried into the third and final set, where it quickly grabbed leads of 7-2 and 9-5. Krajicek and Ram answered back to claim the next three points and get within 9-8, but Ebden and Peers earned the final match point for the win.

Krajicek and Ram made their way to the championship match with victories over Australia on July 29 and Brazil on July 30. In the July 31 quarterfinal round, the pair took down Spanish superstars Carlos Alacaraz and Rafael Nadal, 6-2, 6-4. Alcaraz is the No. 3 player in the world in singles, while Nadal is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time with over 100 career titles.

The duo bested Czechia’s Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek, 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals on Aug. 1 to earn a spot to compete for the gold medal.