Steve Denton speaks on pro Aggies competing at Wimbledon

Aggies Arthur Rinderknech, Austin Krajicek and Jackson Withrow are all competing at Wimbledon this week. Texas A&M's men's tennis coach Steve Denton joined Wednesday's edition of TexAgs Live to discuss his former players' performance at Centre Court.

Key notes from Steve Denton interview 

• First of all, Arthur Rinderknech getting to play on the biggest court in the world in front of millions of people is a great honor. Also, being able to play against the No. 3 player in the world, where many have been before, is a great opportunity. We spoke before, and I told him, “Take it in, but you’re not there to entertain. You’re there to win.” He did a great job in the first set. I talked to him about taking care of his serve. He served amazingly from his first match to the second day. I believe he served around 70 percent of “first serves,” which is unheard of.
   
• They’re having a heatwave in England right now. It was in the low 90s, which creates a bit of speed on the ball when it goes through the air. It was ideal serving conditions for both players. It was all about who would be able to break serves. Rinderknech played a really good tiebreaker to win it. No breaks served. In the second set, they have a curfew there. They didn’t go on until 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. They knew likely after the second set, they were going to have to stop. Rinderknech was up 5-3 in the second set, but Alexander Zverev ended up raising his level and won the match to even the match at one a piece. I texted Rinderknech that night and said, “I know you can’t do anything about what happened, and it has no bearing on the match at all. You have to go jump on the match tomorrow. The conditions will be even faster because at night the court is covered and the court is cooler in there.”
   
• The next day, I knew it’d be 90 degrees again. Of course it was, and a lot faster. Rinderknech jumped on Zverev and broke him twice in the third set to go up 2-1. In the fourth set, it was a see-saw affair. Neither one of them had a chance to break. Rinderknech, again, was on the cusp of winning, but Zverev came back and won the tiebreaker. You thought experience would take over, and it wouldn’t be Rinderknech’s day. In the fifth set, Zverev was up 40-0 on his serve at 1-all, and Rinderknech came back and won that game. It propelled Rinderknech to go ahead and break the serve. He was able to serve it out and went that whole match without losing a serve, which is a remarkable feat against one of the best in the world.
   
• It’ll be a totally different match. He has to play again today against Cristian Garín. Sometimes when you have a signature win like that… It's the mark of a good player to back it up with another good result. This match will be totally different. He's small, fast and has a good forehand. They’ll be playing on Court 17, which has a bit of an atmosphere but certainly not the Centre Court of Wimbledon. Rinderknech has to overcome the high he had yesterday and continue to realize he’s still in the tournament with a chance. He’s an experienced player, but if Rinderknech serves well again, we'll see him get on the horse and compete again today.
   
• We`ve had it happen for a while. Arthur played Jannik Sinner for the first round this year at the French Open at the head stadium court of Roland Garros. He went through that and was able to beat Ben Shelton and Reilly Opelka, who are two big servers that are like Zverev. He was able to win those two matches before losing to Carlos Alcaraz. He prepared well for this. To have Rinderknech, Austin Krajicek and Jackson Withrow at Wimbledon, as far as A&M is concerned, my goal all along is not only to win here and be successful, but to produce professional tennis players. It's great to see.
   
• Maybe two weeks ago, we had 10 players at the Challenger level, which is equivalent to Triple-A baseball. On the tour, we had 10 guys playing on the circuit. I think it's a testament to what we have been able to accomplish with young players. Obviously, it's a great shot in the arm for recruiting. We have a lot of guys on the team right now who want to go and play professionally. My staff, Kevin O’Shea and Barnaby Smith, have done a great job of making these guys have the work ethic to be professional tennis players. It’s been awesome to watch our kids. To hear Chris Fowler say something about A&M and Rinderknech means the world to me. I know the university is super excited. That's free publicity right there to have an Aggie on the biggest stage in the world.