Steve Denton previews upcoming matches vs. Mississippi State, Texas

Following a 4-1 win against Kentucky at Mitchell Tennis Center last Sunday, Texas A&M head men's tennis coach Steve Denton joined us on Tuesday's edition of TexAgs Live to talk all things Aggie tennis before facing Mississippi State on Thursday and Texas on Saturday.

Key notes from Steve Denton interview

• We've had a good season. We’ve played a lot of tough teams in the Southeastern Conference. We qualified for the national invitationals and got to play a lot of good teams there. We are No. 2 behind Texas right now in the SEC, who’s undefeated in the conference. We play Mississippi State this Thursday, who’s a great team, and obviously, we have Texas on Saturday, which we are looking forward to. They are very good like they are in almost every sport. We are hoping to upset them.
   
• We have Theo Papamalamis at the top of our lineup, Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot. Those guys are really good. Papamalamis is very good and, for a freshman, has had an amazing year. Alan Magadan has only lost one match, so since he's been in the lineup, he's done great. Tiago Pires is another young player for us, and he’s very athletic. We are excited about this team and the trajectory of the team. We have to play our best tennis with this harder match coming up against Texas if we are going to continue to prevail.
   
• The difference with indoors is the physicality of your legs. The ball stays lower and shoots through the court more. We don't have courts indoors to use on a regular basis, but most of them have done it before. The technical part is we get to see the best teams in the country in this championship, so it gives us a gauge of where we need to be. It helps you to play against the teams, and when you do, you gain confidence and become more relaxed.
   
• Papamalamis was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in the juniors, so top 10 in the world. So he's won a lot and has high expectations that he will continue to win. He wants to play professionally, so he looks at this like a stage in his career. He played a guy first round and lost, who was No. 40 in the world, but he's worked really hard and is still only 19 years old. He's a freshman, so he's going through some growing pains. It's different in college than the pros, but this pressure allows them to hone their skill to prepare for the rest of their career.
   
• We had six players at the French Open, most schools had three at most. We've done a good job at developing young players to go play and make some money. They see the path they need to go down to be successful. It's why they're here playing these teams in the SEC. In the past, maybe we were top-heavy in the conference, but now anyone can beat anyone. Our roster size is about the same, but it will be smaller in the future. Depth is important, but it will change.
   
• There’s so much uncertainty about what’s going to happen. As coaches, we have to be prepared and ready to pivot when needed to be successful. What’s great about Texas A&M is our fan base and support system have really helped us out. We are in a great spot. Our kids are given everything they need to be successful. That's what Texas A&M has meant to me and our team.
   
• When we played South Carolina on Friday night, we had a couple of matches where they didn't play their best matches. You have to hand it to South Carolina. They played some good tennis. It was the opposite Sunday. They controlled it and did really well. We had an assessment to learn Friday night and hoped that would translate for the rest of the season.
   
• Mississippi State beat South Carolina, 4-3. They are one of the better doubles teams in the country. Our challenge on Thursday will be going there. We've had success with them before, but it’s a great team with great coaching. You have to be 20 percent better than them on the road if you want to beat them. It's about having our guys stay in the moment and understand how difficult it will be. Then, we have a quick turnaround to Texas, which I know they are looking forward to, but you can't look too far ahead. They have one step first.
   
• This will challenge us and determine not only where we sit in the conference but also our future for the NCAA Tournament.