COLLEGE STATION, Texas – For the second consecutive year, Texas A&M will play host to the 2009 Wilson/ITA Texas Regional Championships on Oct. 24-27 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Admission is free and open to the public.

One of the strongest men’s fall regionals in the country, the four-day tournament boasts 12 nationally-ranked singles players and five doubles teams in the preseason Campbell/ITA Division I men’s tennis rankings.

“This is a great opportunity for not only our players, but our fans,” Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. “The weather forecast is expected to good this weekend and it will be a chance for them to take a look at our new players and see the progression of our returning players. We feel comfortable playing on our own home courts and are excited to play in front of the support of the 12th Man.”

Junior All-American and No. 30-ranked Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) will be the fifth-seeded player in the talented singles draw which includes top-seeded and sixth-ranked Dimitar Kutrovsky of Texas, second-seeded and No. 22-ranked Bruno Rosa of Rice, third-seeded and No. 25-ranked Raony Carvalho of Texas Tech and fourth-seeded and No. 27-ranked Jordan Rux of Baylor.

In the doubles draw, Krajicek and junior Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.) will be the fifth-seeded tandem behind the top-seeded and No. 13-ranked duo of Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala of Texas.

“Our practices have gone really well over the last two weeks,” Denton said. “Each player has some things to work on to get better, but it’s clear that this team is going to be a very talented team. These fall tournaments allow us to evaluate each player and help them play up to their potential. It really comes down to their mental toughness and we know we are going to be challenged by a lot of talented players in our region this weekend.”

First serve on Saturday, Oct. 24, and Sunday, Oct. 25, is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. (CT), while the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on Monday, Oct. 26, and the finals on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

A&M, Baylor, Lamar, Prairie View A&M, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UT Arlington, UT Pan American and UTSA are among the 13 regional schools who have participants competing in this weekend’s tournament.

Last fall, the Aggies were very successful with Krajicek and former three-time All-American Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas) capturing the Wilson/ITA South Central Region Championships doubles title and Pollock the singles title.

“Last year, we had as good of a result you could ask for by winning the singles and doubles titles,” Denton said. “It was a return to the (four-time All-American) Shuon Madden glory days at A&M. Our goal is to play as well as we can and hopefully, have some players in a position to advance to the ITA National Indoors in November.”

The singles and doubles champions from the Wilson/ITA Texas Regional Championships will advance to the 2009 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships to be held on Nov. 5-8 at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.