Tag: J.J. Wolf

Former Buckeye J.J. Wolf falls to world No. 5 in U.S. Open

Former Ohio State tennis star J.J. Wolf’s run at the U.S. Open came to an end Saturday. He couldn’t quite keep up with Daniil Medvedev.

Despite the ultimate outcome in the third-round, it was a nice run at the U.S. Open for former Ohio State tennis star J.J. Wolf.

After two upsets in rounds one and two, Wolf faced the daunting task of taking on last year’s Open runner-up, No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev. It went about as you’d expect it to go at this point in Wolf’s career. Medvedev took control of the match after a two-game feeling out period and cruised to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 win.

Despite the loss, there were some flashes of brilliance from the former Buckeye. He hit some booming serves, showed creativity and athleticism, and showed unbelievable power on his groundstrokes.

Still, there are clearly some areas of improvement needed that became ever so glaring against one of the top players in the world. Wolf needs to be able to get his big serve in more, cut down on the unforced errors, and work on his approaches at the net.

At the end of the day though, you have to believe the future is bright for Wolf and this showing will only catapult his confidence and work ethic to hone what’s already there.

He has the potential to be one of tennis’ young stars if he can work on the rough edges to go with his power and athleticism.

 

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Former Ohio State men’s tennis star J.J. Wolf advances to 3rd round of U.S. Open

Former Ohio State tennis star J.J. Wolf advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open by disposing of Roberto Carballés Baena.

Jeffrey John Wolf has it rolling at the U.S. Open. After a huge upset of the world’s No. 36 ranked player on Tuesday, Wolf soldiered on and took down the No. 138 player in the world, Spaniard Roberto Carballés Baena on Thursday, and did it in decisive fashion 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

Better known as J.J. Wolf, the former Buckeye is now 2-0 in Grand Slam matches. It was evident early on that his serve and groundstrokes were going to keep Carballés Baena off balance as long as Wolf didn’t commit too many unforced errors.

There were a few miscues, but his outright winners and service game were able to dominate the game.

Things should ramp up significantly for Wolf next match. He could be facing last year’s U.S. Open runner-up, the No. 16 ranked player in the world and No. 3 seeded Daniil Medvedev. As long as the Russian takes care of business later today the two will meet Saturday at a time yet to be determined.

 

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Former Ohio State men’s tennis star J.J. Wolf with big upset at U.S. Open

Former Ohio State tennis player J.J. Wolf upset the world’s No. 36 player at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.

In case you missed it, there was a fairly sizeable upset at the U.S. Open on Tuesday, and it had a scarlet and gray hue to it.

Former Ohio State tennis star J.J. Wolf upset the world’s No. 36 Guido Pella to move onto the next round in a Grand Slam event. Maybe even more surprising is how easily Wolf cruised to victory, winning 6-2, 0-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Wolf, currently ranked the No. 138 player on the tour, will next take on Spain’s Roberto Carballés Baena in a time and date to still be determined. There’s almost no way Wolf’s ranking moves up after this showing, but you can bet he’s aiming for more than that.

Whether this is a flash in the pan win or he can start to show some consistent promise remains on the tour remains to be seen. Either way, if you’re looking for former Buckeye to get behind while all the other sports sort themselves out, you could do a lot worse than rooting for Jeffrey John Wolf.

Stay close to things here because as soon as the times for Wolf’s half of the draw are determined, we’ll have it for you.

 

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J.J. Wolf plays his best tennis in Columbus

J.J. Wolf might have left Ohio State to turn pro, but he still plays his best tennis at tournaments in Columbus.

Jeffrey John (known as J.J.) Wolf was a three-year standout at Ohio State. Since leading the Buckeyes to the No. 1 ranking last year, Wolf has moved on to play professionally. Still, Wolf plays his best professional tennis on the Scarlet and Gray courts in Columbus.

As I’ve mentioned before, the Ohio State University hosts three Challenger Tour tournaments throughout the year. It’s a tremendous recruiting tool for the program, and it’s a chance for players at Ohio State to get some experience against professional players. The ATP Challenger Tour is the second-highest professional level, right below the ATP World Tour.

For Wolf, though, the Columbus Challengers have been more than just a place to gain experience in college. They are where he is building his professional career, one tournament at a time. Wolf played in all three Columbus Challengers last year, even though he was still in college during the first one. That first tournament, in January, became the first Challenger Tour title of Wolf’s career, as he took a wild card entry and upset multiple seeds along the way, defeating fellow former Buckeye Mikail Torpegaard in the final.

In the second Columbus Challenger last year, Wolf struggled and lost in the second round (after receiving a first-round bye). He came back to reach the final in the third tournament, falling to Canadian Peter Polansky in the final.

This year, Wolf entered the season on a high, winning Challengers in Champaign (at the end of 2019, hosted at the University of Illinois) and Noumea. He continues that form by now winning his fourth career Challenger Challenger title, and his second in Columbus.

Wolf didn’t blitz through the field this week. In face, his first four matches required three sets. However, Wolf gutted his way through them, surviving tough opponent after tough opponent. He beat Torpegaard in two tiebreaks in the semifinals, and then blasted through No. 5 seed and World No. 165 Denis Istomin in the final for a 6-4 6-2 win.

Wolf will now move into the Top 150 of the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career. The sky is the limit for the Buckeye standout, and the higher he goes, the better it is for the program that got him there.

Buckeyes go 0-4 in opening round of Columbus Challenger

Four current Ohio State Buckeyes competed at the Columbus Challenger professional tennis tournament this week.

The Columbus Challenger is taking place at the Ohio State University this week. As I’ve explained before, the Columbus Challenger series is an excellent opportunity, both for American tennis players in general, Ohio State’s tennis program, and tennis fans around Columbus.

Ohio State hosts multiple Challenger Tour events throughout the year. The Challenger Tour is the second-highest professional men’s tennis tour, right below the ATP World Tour. Challenger tournaments are usually filled by players ranked from 100-400 in the world. Ohio State uses the Challengers in Columbus to increase fan interest, to help with recruiting, and to give current (and former) Buckeyes the chance to compete against some of the best in the world.

Four current members of the Men’s Tennis team were given entry to the Challenger. Unfortunately for them, none managed to advance to the second round this time. However, all of them performed admirably against some of the top opponents–certainly a higher-caliber opponent than you’ll see in most college matchups.

John McNally, likely the most pro-ready Buckeye, took World No. 275 Roberto Quiroz to two tiebreaks. However, the Cincinnati couldn’t win either of them, so he lost 7-6 7-6. Freshman phenom Cannon Kingsley also took Lloyd Glasspool to a first-set tiebreak, but Kingsley lost the tiebreak and the second set as well. Redshirt freshman Andrew Lutschaunig was given a qualifying spot, and he had to take on World No. 208 Zhe Li. Lutschaunig was also able to force a first-set tiebreak, but he lost it and the second set as well. This morning, Justin Boulais fell to World No. 270 Guilherme Clezar in straight sets as well.

So while current Buckeyes might not have won a single set against their four opponents, they all played tough and impressed against top-caliber competition. They might not have earned any ranking points and I’m sure all would have loved to have advanced, but this is a great experience and they played really well.

Former Buckeyes J.J. Wolf and Mikael Torpegaard–each former champions of Columbus Challengers–received first-round byes and are still in the tournament. Wolf begins his tournament today (Tuesday) against World No. 273 James Ward, while Torpegaard begins tomorrow.

J.J. Wolf wins Noumea Challenger title

Former Buckeye J.J. Wolf won the third Challenger title of his career as he prepares for Australian Open qualifying.

Former Ohio State tennis standout J.J. Wolf captured his second straight Challenger Tour title this past week, winning the trophy in Noumea, New Caledonia. (New Caledonia is a French-administered territorial island not too far from Australia.) He easily defeated Top 100 player Yuichi Sugita in the final, 6-2 6-2. In fact, Wolf was dominant all week. The only set he dropped was a second-set tiebreaker to World No. 80 Roberto Carballes Baena.

Wolf is now on an 11-match winning streak, as he won the Champaign Challenger–on the campus of the University of Illinois back in November, before tennis’ off-season.

Wolf was the No. 1 NCAA player in the country for most of last season, and his transition to the professional circuit has been smoother than most college stars. The former Buckeye is not yet competing in top-level ATP Tour events, but he is consistently performing well and winning on the Challenger Tour, the sport’s second-highest professional circuit. Wolf now has won three Challenger Tour titles, including one at Ohio State in Columbus last year.

Last week also witnessed a Challenger tournament in Ann Arbor, where many former and current NCAA players competed. Like the Columbus Challengers, that tournament is one of a growing number of Challenger tournaments hosted by college tennis programs. Instead of staying near home to compete there (against a much weaker field), Wolf chose to play in New Caledonia because he will be competing in qualifying for the Australian Open this week.

With a career-high ranking of World No. 181, Wolf begins his qualifying campaign on Wednesday. He has to win matches on three consecutive days to reach the main draw. He will be joined in qualifying by former Buckeyes Blaz Rola and Mikael Torpegaard, who are also ranked inside the Top 200.

On the women’s side, former Buckeye Francesca Di Lorenzo is ranked No. 121 in the world and is seeded 14th in the qualifying draw. She begins her qualifying campaign on Tuesday against Julia Grabher.