By Richard Croome, The Eagle, Bryan, Texas
April 29–Similar to a golfer who can drive it 330 yards or a boxer with knockout power, Jeff Dadamo looked invincible when he was on.
but like the big hitter who can’t keep the ball on the course or a boxer who can’t find his range and keeps missing, when Dadamo was off even just a little it spelled trouble.
“He’s maybe the most talented ball-striker that I have ever coached and yet sometimes he has been self destructive,” Texas A&M head men’s tennis coach Steve Denton said. “It’s kept him from playing the way he’s capable of. I felt he had all the shots but not the capability of putting them all together in combinations.”
despite the shortcomings, Dadamo still went 18-9 primarily at No. 2 singles last year as a junior after transferring from Florida. he also made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament in his first year at A&M.
but Dadamo also knew he had to change.
“Last year if I made a whole lot of errors and wasn’t doing so well they would just keep coming,” the left-hander said. “I would keep hitting, and if I was missing I was in trouble.”
was is the operative word.
a racket change, a revised gameplan, a little more patience and a lot more fitness have turned Dadamo’s constant search for a knockout punch that may or may not be there into a consistent game.
“I’m a lot more resilient this year,” Dadamo said. “I switched rackets [to one with] a little bit more spin, and it helps me control the ball a little bit more, so if I’m not hitting my shots as well as I was, I’m able to slow it down and put more balls back in the court and work my way back into a match.”
The result is a 19-3 record going into the big 12 Championship that starts Friday in Waco.
“He was a front-runner,” Denton said. “If things were going well then he’d do well, but if he had to face any adversity then he was not near as good. I think that’s different now. He’s not easily discouraged anymore.
“To me there is no doubt the Jeff Dadamo of this year would beat that guy of last year pretty comfortably.”
he also has more versatility.
Dadamo once relied on hard, flat shots to get out of sitiuations that didn’t require going for it all. now he is willing to put more spin on shots and wait for his chances to put away points, showing more patience and maturity.
“He’s more confident and a complete player,” Denton said. “He’s more selective and using combinations like a boxer would in trying to win the point after several shots to put himself in better position. He’s not having to pull the trigger from difficult positions on the court.”
Dadamo, ranked 40th nationally in singles at the time, showed off his versatility in a 6-0, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 33 Ed Corrie in A&M’s 5-2 victory over Texas on Saturday.
The victory meant a lot to Dadamo, who lost to Corrie last season in the big 12 tournament final that Texas won 4-3.
“It felt pretty good getting some revenge, but I was just really happy because it was the last match as a senior here,” Dadamo said. “My parents were here, and it ended out on a high note. I will probably end up playing him this weekend, so it’s nice having a win going into that.”
Dadamo enrolled at Florida as a top 5 junior tennis player nationally. he played No. 4 singles his freshman season then No. 6 as a sophomore.
“It was tough because I was beating guys in practice and still playing below them,” he said. “On top of that [Florida coach Andy Jackson's] style of coaching didn’t fit with the way I like to train, so our differences caused us to go our separate ways.”
Dadamo came to A&M in large part because of the Aggies’ No. 1 player and All-American Austin Krajicek, a fellow Floridian,
Krajicek sold Dadamo on what Denton and assistant coach Bob McKinley could do for the fellow lefty. Dadamo says he has not been disappointed.
Krajicek may have also been looking for a doubles partner.
With former partner Conor Pollock, Krajicek made it to the NCAA semifinals as a freshman and the quarterfinals as a sophomore, but Pollock graduated after that.
“I don’t know if we talked about it beforehand but once we practiced we started talking about it,” Dadamo said of playing doubles with Krajicek. “Two lefties together is unconventional, but we just started winning a bunch of matches, so coach couldn’t split us.”
In the fall, the duo won the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, a title second only to the NCAA championship. Dadamo called it the individual highlight of his college career.
The two have continued to win in the spring and are ranked fourth nationally.
“They grew up in Florida and have a connection from their junior past and are good friends,” Denton said. “Obviously playing doubles together, they plan on going out and playing tournaments on the circuit.”
what: Men’s big 12 Tennis Tournament
When: Friday-Sunday
where: Baylor Tennis Center, Waco
first round: Noon, Friday; No. 2 seed A&M vs. No. 7 seed Oklahoma State
Title match: 1 p.m. Sunday
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