Oklahoma State University Athletics
Saturday, January 23
Fort Worth, TX
1:00 P.M.
Oklahoma State University
vs
No. 32 Harvard
Cowboy Tennis Geared Up For ITA Kick-Off
January 22, 2016 | Cowboy Tennis
Notes vs. ITA Kick-Off
The Basics
The No. 28 Cowboys (3-0; 0-0 Big 12) will head to Fort Worth, Texas, for the ITA Kick-Off, hosted by TCU. On Saturday at 1 p.m., the Pokes will take on No. 32 Harvard (2-0; 0-0 Ivy League) at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. If Oklahoma State wins, they will face the winner of No. 3 TCU vs. No. 39 San Diego State on Sunday in the championship match. If the Cowboys lose, they will face the loser of TCU vs. SDSU in a consolation match. Sunday's matches start at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., which ever match TCU is in will be played first.
Follow the Match Live
Live stats for all matches this weekend can be found at TCU.statbroadcast.com. Also, live updates will be avaliable on the Oklahoma State men's tennis Twitter page (@CowboyTennis).
In the ITA Rankings
The Cowboys remained at No. 28 in the ITA team rankings for the second-straight week. TCU and Harvard also stayed steady in the latest rankings at No. 3 and No. 32. San Diego State fell one spot in the rankings to No. 39.
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. TCU has four players in the singles rankings, including Cameron Norrie at No. 4 and Guillermo Nunez at No. 24. Both Harvard and San Diego State have one player in the singles rankings. The lone Aztec is Freddy Gelbrich at No. 53 and Harvard is represented by Nicky Hu at No. 71.
The doubles rankings feature a trio 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. Three Harvard duos are seen in the doubles rankings with Crimson duo Sebastian Beltrame/Kenny Tao at No. 32, Brian Yeung/Andy Zhou at No. 39 and Yeung/Hu at No. 44. TCU and San Diego State do not have any 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 23 of their 29 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 struggled with the Crimson in the past as Harvard holds a 3-2 series lead on the Pokes. Fortunately for OSU, they've won the last two meetings between the two squads with the last one coming in 2005.
In the series against San Diego State, the Cowboys lead 5-4 with their last victory against the Aztecs being a shutout (4-0) in 2014 at the Aztec Tennis Center in San Diego, California.
After trailing 1-2 in the series to TCU in 2001, OSU has won six of the last nine matches against the Horned Frogs to take a 7-5 lead in the series. The last Cowboy victory was in 2014, where the Pokes won a thriller thanks to Lucas Gerch who won the final two games in the third set of his match to give the Pokes a 4-3 win in Fort Worth, Texas.
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 Red Raiders sit at No. 12, as the Longhorns and Pokes aren't too far behind them at No. 15 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.
Meraut Continues Hot Start
Oklahoma State's Tristan Meraut came into the spring season with an 8-2 record and hasn't stopped his impressive play as he has won three-straight matches to start the spring.The sophomore has defeated each of his spring opponents in straight-sets, including an impressive victroy over No. 45 Memphis' Shakeel Manji, 6-4, 6-3.
This isn't a surprise from the young Cowboy as he got off to hot start last spring by winning eight of his first nine matches before suffering an injuryIf Meraut continues to play with such confidence, the Paris-native looks to be an important part of the Cowboy Tennis squad for years to come.
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 third Cowboy in Oklahoma State history to earn three All-American honors. The only other Cowboys to have three All-American honors are Oleksandr Nedovyesov (2008-2010) and Sude (2014-15).
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
The Basics
The No. 28 Cowboys (3-0; 0-0 Big 12) will head to Fort Worth, Texas, for the ITA Kick-Off, hosted by TCU. On Saturday at 1 p.m., the Pokes will take on No. 32 Harvard (2-0; 0-0 Ivy League) at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. If Oklahoma State wins, they will face the winner of No. 3 TCU vs. No. 39 San Diego State on Sunday in the championship match. If the Cowboys lose, they will face the loser of TCU vs. SDSU in a consolation match. Sunday's matches start at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., which ever match TCU is in will be played first.
Follow the Match Live
Live stats for all matches this weekend can be found at TCU.statbroadcast.com. Also, live updates will be avaliable on the Oklahoma State men's tennis Twitter page (@CowboyTennis).
In the ITA Rankings
The Cowboys remained at No. 28 in the ITA team rankings for the second-straight week. TCU and Harvard also stayed steady in the latest rankings at No. 3 and No. 32. San Diego State fell one spot in the rankings to No. 39.
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. TCU has four players in the singles rankings, including Cameron Norrie at No. 4 and Guillermo Nunez at No. 24. Both Harvard and San Diego State have one player in the singles rankings. The lone Aztec is Freddy Gelbrich at No. 53 and Harvard is represented by Nicky Hu at No. 71.
The doubles rankings feature a trio 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. Three Harvard duos are seen in the doubles rankings with Crimson duo Sebastian Beltrame/Kenny Tao at No. 32, Brian Yeung/Andy Zhou at No. 39 and Yeung/Hu at No. 44. TCU and San Diego State do not have any 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 23 of their 29 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 struggled with the Crimson in the past as Harvard holds a 3-2 series lead on the Pokes. Fortunately for OSU, they've won the last two meetings between the two squads with the last one coming in 2005.
In the series against San Diego State, the Cowboys lead 5-4 with their last victory against the Aztecs being a shutout (4-0) in 2014 at the Aztec Tennis Center in San Diego, California.
After trailing 1-2 in the series to TCU in 2001, OSU has won six of the last nine matches against the Horned Frogs to take a 7-5 lead in the series. The last Cowboy victory was in 2014, where the Pokes won a thriller thanks to Lucas Gerch who won the final two games in the third set of his match to give the Pokes a 4-3 win in Fort Worth, Texas.
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 Red Raiders sit at No. 12, as the Longhorns and Pokes aren't too far behind them at No. 15 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.
Meraut Continues Hot Start
Oklahoma State's Tristan Meraut came into the spring season with an 8-2 record and hasn't stopped his impressive play as he has won three-straight matches to start the spring.The sophomore has defeated each of his spring opponents in straight-sets, including an impressive victroy over No. 45 Memphis' Shakeel Manji, 6-4, 6-3.
This isn't a surprise from the young Cowboy as he got off to hot start last spring by winning eight of his first nine matches before suffering an injuryIf Meraut continues to play with such confidence, the Paris-native looks to be an important part of the Cowboy Tennis squad for years to come.
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 third Cowboy in Oklahoma State history to earn three All-American honors. The only other Cowboys to have three All-American honors are Oleksandr Nedovyesov (2008-2010) and Sude (2014-15).
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
Players Mentioned
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