Denton calls Rinderknech-Vacherot matchup a 'dream come true'

Key notes from Steve Denton interview

• It is one of the reasons I got into college sports. I’ve watched sports since I was a little kid, especially college sports. It is so fun. All of these great rivalries. What I love to see is close games. I love to see teams rise up and play at their highest level in important moments. That is what thrills me.
   
• Winning at the Shanghai Masters was a dream come true for us. You wonder about the impact you could make on these young men's lives. To see them play at that level for that long... I had a lump in my throat getting up to watch them play. Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot never played on the same day. They got to support each other.
   
• Arthur Rinderknech played Alexander Zverev, whom he beat at Wimbledon. Usually, when you beat a top player, the next time they are there to kick your butt. And then he beat Daniil Medvedev, the former No. 1 player, in the semifinals.
   
• Valentin Vacherot shouldn’t have even been in the draw. Thanks to an alternate not showing up, Vacherot got in. He won a couple of qualifying matches. He was close to losing some of them, but he worked his way through and beat all of these great players. Then, to be able to play Novak Djokovic, the greatest of all time in the tennis world. Vacherot had never played or practiced with Djokovic before. Then to go and perform against him like that was amazing. Rinderknech and Vacherot played each other in the finals. How they represented Texas A&M and tennis as ambassadors to the sport was great to see.
   
• Rinderknech and Vacherot’s mothers are sisters. I went to recruit Rinderknech. I saw him for two minutes, and I was like, “I want this kid.” He was going elsewhere to school, but I went over there, and he decided to come to A&M. Then, he went, “Steve-o. I have a cousin of mine who is really good, and I want him to come to A&M.” So that is what happened with Vacherot. At the end of Rinderknech’s career at A&M, he came to me and said, “Please take care of my cousin.” It’s the relationships that are great with both of them. I’ve kind of been their American dad here for the last years. To watch those guys play was amazing.
   
• They have always thrown up the Gig ‘Em sign. They always talk about us fondly. That is what it is supposed to be like. They don’t just take, but they give. They are great ambassadors. They are living the dream right now. They both will be on the main circuit together. Hopefully, indefinitely going forward.
   
• Vacherot’s ranking went from 204 to 40 in the world. He got to be greeted by Prince Albert last week. Rinderknech’s went from 50 to 28. They are going to really enjoy playing the big tournaments together, and hopefully, they can gain momentum and continue this run.
   
• Raphael Perot has won two back-to-back tournaments. Patrick Kypson got to the finals of the 125. Austin Krajicek and Jackson Withrow are both great doubles players. We’ve had a lot of good guys come in here. Around Wimbledon time, we had six guys playing in the main draw, singles and doubles. Then, in the next tier down, we had four guys at the challenger level. That makes me feel like we are doing something right at Texas A&M.
   
• The ITAs are really tough for us to get these guys into the NCAA tournament. We played in the All-American tournament a couple of weeks ago. We had four guys play. You had to get to the quarterfinals to qualify for the NCAA individual championships. We didn’t get anyone into the quarterfinals, but we had two guys get to the finals of the Shanghai Masters. It has taken us a little longer to get there.
   
• Our guys are excited to get to play in front of the 12th Man this weekend. We have some good teams coming to town. It is a long season and a good opportunity to see where these guys are and what we need to work on in their game to get them ready for the spring.