Ohio State men’s tennis wins thriller vs. Georgia to advance to NCAA semifinals

On to the semifinals! #GoBucks

The Ohio State men’s tennis team turned the tables from what we saw in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and beat the Georgia Bulldogs on Friday afternoon to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships.

But it was far from easy.

Getting the doubles point can be so crucial in tournament play against the level of competition the Buckeyes are facing as they move further into the national tournament. However, OSU dropped that point against Georgia rather handily, 6-3, 6-3, for a quick 1-0 hole in the race for four points. It would take all the Buckeyes had to win four of the six singles matches.

James Trotter started the comeback with a smooth 6-4, 6-4, victory to even the score at 1-1, but Ohio State fell behind once again when Georgia notched another victory. Jack Anthrop pulled OSU even at 2-2 though with a 6-4, 6-0 victory on court six, and the stage was set for a wild finish.

Ohio State had put itself in a pretty good position by winning the first sets of four matches and got the results it needed when Cannon Kingsley again pulled the Buckeyes even at 3-3, but freshman Alexander Bernard seemed to be running into trouble on court 5 after winning the first set 6-4. In the final, clinching match of the day, He fell down 4-0 and 5-2 in set two but then rallied using a more defensive style.

Instead of allowing the second set to get away, he got a couple of breaks and then served out the match to win 7-5 and send Ohio State on to the semifinals with a thrilling 4-3 victory.

With the win, the final four is set with OSU taking on TCU (who beat Michigan), and Texas doing battle with Virginia.

The Buckeyes match is scheduled for Noon ET on Saturday in Orlando, with the winner playing for the NCAA championship on Sunday.

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Ohio State men’s tennis receives No. 3 overall seed in NCAA Tournament

Can the OSU men finally pull off that elusive outdoor title? #GoBucks

The Ohio State men’s tennis team will give it another run again in 2023. The one thing missing from head coach Ty Tucker’s resume is an outdoor title. The Buckeyes won the indoor national title twice, a gob of Big Ten regular season and conference titles, but have always fallen just a wee bit short this time of year.

To do it, OSU will have a favorable path. It will host rounds one and two at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center on campus. The Buckeyes will host East Tennessee State on Saturday at home and will advance to take on the winner of Texas Teach and Louisville on Sunday with a win.

Ohio State is 29-2 and ranked No. 3 in the country. The Buckeyes have won 17 straight conference regular season titles and 15 Big Ten tournament titles after pulling off the double feature again this season.

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OSU was the NCAA runner-up in 2009 and 2018.

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Ohio State men’s tennis beats Michigan to advance to final four of NCAA Tournament

Revenge is a dish best served with an ace. #GoBucks

The Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry endured another chapter on Thursday, but this time on the tennis court. As luck would have it, the No. 4 seed Buckeyes and No. 5 seed Wolverines met in Champaign, Illinois, in a round of eight matchup of the men’s NCAA tennis tournament.

The two have played three times this year, with Michigan taking two out of three. Ohio State won the Big Ten regular-season title, while the Wolverines got revenge by beating the Buckeyes in the championship match of the Big Ten tournament. OSU has long been the dominant program in the conference, but Michigan was working hard to change that this season.

That same revenge Michigan recently was turned upside down on Thursday though with Ohio State taking down its rival 4-2 to advance to the final four of the NCAA tournament. And boy was it entertaining.

The Buckeyes started off on the wrong foot by giving up the doubles point to Michigan and had to battle back in the singles matches. OSU took the first two singles matches after some weather tried to ruin their momentum when JJ Tracy evened things up 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-2 win, followed by Justin Boulais’ 6-2, 6-3 match victory. Cannon Kingsley then won 6-4, 6-4 moments later, but Jake Van Emburgh lost his match to make it 3-2 in favor of Ohio State.

From there, it was a nail-biter, with Andrew Lutschaunig clinching a 7-6, 6-4 victory on an ace serve to send the Buckeyes into the final four for the first time since 2018.

Ohio State will next be in action Saturday at 11 AM ET against No. 8 seed Kentucky after the Wildcats upset No. 1 seed TCU.