The Ohio State men’s tennis team will continue its journey and head to Orlando for the NCAA men’s championships next weekend thanks to a 4-2 victory over No. 14 seed Arizona on Saturday.
The Buckeyes had to battle hard against the Wildcats, maybe more than anyone anticipated, but started things off well by winning the doubles point with a pair of 6-3 wins on courts one and three to go up 1-0 early. That was followed up with a dominant singles win by freshman Jack Anthrop, 6-3, 6-3 and OSU appeared to be well on its way.
From there though, things got tense and rather dramatic. The Wildcats got a pair of straight-set wins to even things, 2-2, with the rest of the matches all close and seemingly on their way to a third set with the outcomes in doubt.
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Cannon Kingsley would get the Buckeyes’ third point by battling from behind early. He won the first set 7-5 despite being down 5-3, lost the second set 7-5, then was able to finish things off with a 6-3 victory for a 3-2 lead.
Just 15 seconds later, JJ Tracy ended the drama with a three-set 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory all while James Trotter was embattled in a second-set tiebreaker.
What a cool moment!! Two wins within 20 seconds and the Buckeyes are headed to Orlando!!! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/3DzE7aIQHA
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioStateMTEN) May 13, 2023
With the win, Ohio State will advance to the quarterfinals for the 16th time in program history down in Orlando, Florida. The Buckeyes will play No. 6 seed Georgia Thursday evening with a chance at advancing to the semifinals.
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