The Ohio State Men’s Tennis team huddles up before the Ohio State-Michigan State match on Feb. 13, 2021. Ohio State won 4-0. Credit: Christian Harsa | Special Projects Director
The No. 5 Buckeyes scored their biggest win of the season Friday, taking down the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers 4-0 at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.
The match was Ohio State’s (6-0) first at home since Jan. 19, and the tennis complex was packed to the brim with fans anticipating the top-five matchup. The Volunteers (6-1) entered the match undefeated, but the Buckeyes earned their third-consecutive victory against a No. 1 opponent to hand Tennessee its first loss of the season.
The Buckeyes started off hot in doubles action, never trailing on any court. No. 2 junior Justin Boulais and senior James Trotter took a 4-1 lead, and on court three junior Cannon Kingsley and sophomore JJ Tracy did the same.
Kingsley and Tracy kept their momentum going against opponents sophomore Johannus Monday and senior Martim Prata to go up 5-2 and won the clinching game after Tennessee took two-consecutive double faults.
Boulais and Trotter knotted in a close match against graduate Adam Walter and senior Pat Harper, who tied the match up 4-4. Alongside them, No. 1 graduate Matej Vocel and junior Robert Cash picked up the slack after being tied 2-2 against No. 6 senior Emile Hudd and freshman Shunsuke Mitsui to win their set and the doubles point 6-3.
Despite slowing down towards the end of doubles play, it would be No. 42 Trotter who would come into singles action the hottest. He won nine consecutive games to start the match and cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win against Prata that put the Buckeyes up 2-0.
Trotter, hailing from Hyogo, Japan, said the match was a lot closer than the score showed, but was happy to score the first singles point and take pressure off of his teammates.
“I think my opponent struggled a bit with the audience,” Trotter said. “There were multiple deuce points I won but it could’ve been a lot closer.”
Each of the other five singles courts were incredibly tight contests, with four reaching tiebreakers. No. 21 Kingsley, playing in his third such match this season, narrowly edged out his adversary No. 10 Monday, who had a set point opportunity before Kingsley rallied off three straight to take the tiebreaker.
Also winning tiebreakers in their first sets were No. 14 Tracy and No. 95 Cash, edging out junior Angel Diaz and No. 51 Hudd, respectively. Hudd had a set point opportunity up 6-5 before Cash scored the momentous point to tie the game and win the tiebreaker 7-2.
Head coach Ty Tucker said things seemed to keep falling in place as his team continued to come up with wins in tight sets.
“The margins were thin and we came up big in the tiebreakers,” Tucker said. “That’s how the ball bounced today, but it may not bounce that way tomorrow.”
Tracy took off from his first set tiebreaker win to lead the second set 5-2 and let two match-point opportunities slip away before finally taking the match 7-6, 6-3.
It would be Kingsley who proved to be the deciding point in the contest after being locked in a close one with Monday all the way through. Kingsley and Cash had a match point opportunity simultaneously, but Kingsley would score first to take the match and clinched the Buckeyes’ upset win.
Trotter said Tennessee was the best team Ohio State has hosted since the beginning of the pandemic, and he’s thankful for the large crowd supporting the Buckeyes throughout the match.
“It was a great atmosphere. I think everyone on the team enjoyed it and it helped us a lot,” Trotter said. “When you’re playing on the road, it’s tough, but when you’re playing at home and you have the audience, it’s fun.”
Tucker said the team enjoyed the win but has to keep moving forward with tough competition on the way.
“We’re on to Sunday at noon,” Tucker said. “We feel good right now, but Virginia wants some of us and we have to be ready.”
Tucker praised the team’s preparation on and off the court when attributing the win.
“We just try to stack good days on good days,” Tucker said. “They do good in the strength room, in practice and bring good energy. They’re committed to getting better every day.”
The Buckeyes return to action Sunday at noon against No. 6 Virginia. The match will take place at Ty Tucker Tennis Center and will be streamed on the Ohio State Buckeyes website.
