Sophomore Jack Anthrop returns a serve from opponent Alex Petrov in singles match against Illinois Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics.
The Ohio State men’s tennis team kicked off its first weekend of conference play with two victories over Northwestern and Illinois.
The No. 1 Buckeyes (20-1, 2-0 Big Ten) hosted No. 60 Northwestern (6-12, 1-1 Big Ten) at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center Friday night, which resulted in a 4-0 win for Ohio State.
“Going into Big Ten play, our biggest goal is to get to four before the other team gets to four,” head coach Ty Tucker said.
Doubles went quick for the Buckeyes after fifth-year Cannon Kingsley and senior JJ Tracy won their doubles match 6-3 over sophomore Chad Miller and senior Saiprakash Goli on court three, and fifth-year Robert Cash and freshman Bryce Nakashima clinched the point with their 6-2 win over junior Felix Nordby and senior Gleb Blekher on court one.
Cash is now two doubles wins away from tying Ohio State alum Peter Kobelt’s program record of 139 career doubles wins from 2011-14.
Singles began in the Buckeyes’ favor after they won all six opening sets with no court giving up more than three games.
Fifth-year Justin Boulais was the first Buckeye to win his singles match with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over senior Presley Thieneman on court one.
With the Buckeyes in a 2-0 lead, No. 12 Tracy finished next with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Goli on court three.
On court two, Kingsley claimed the day’s win after taking both his first and second sets, 6-2, over Blekher.
Redshirt sophomore Jack Anthrop and sophomore Alexander Bernard were both up in their second sets when the match was clinched.
“We’re ranked number one, but that always puts a target on our back,” Anthrop said. “Everybody wants a piece of us, they want to take us down, so a win like this feels good.”
On Sunday afternoon and for the second time this season, Ohio State defeated No. 15 Illinois (10-6, 1-1 Big Ten) by a score of 4-1. The two teams last met on March 6 for a non-conference match in Champaign, Illinois.
In doubles, fifth-year Andrew Lutschaunig and Boulais broke early on court two and held the serve the rest of the match for a 6-3 victory over senior Hunter Heck and junior Karlis Ozolins.
Kingsley and Tracy went down 4-3 at the start, but rallied to win the next three games and clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory against junior Mathis Debru and sophomore Kenta Miyoshi on court three.
“In doubles, we got off to a good start,” Tucker said. “We gave it back a little bit in a couple of those first sets, but ended up handling the doubles point.”
Moving into singles, Ohio State continued its momentum and won five of the first six sets.
“Everyone played really well,” Anthrop said. “Five first sets in singles definitely helps, especially coming out of winning the doubles point.”
Kingsley was the first to win his singles match with a straight-set win over Heck and is now just one singles win shy of 100 overall in his career at Ohio State.
Illinois received its lone point of the match with a 6-4, 6-3 win from Ozolins over Boulais on court one.
Anthrop and Bernard kept the Buckeyes up after winning both of their singles matches. The two Buckeyes have yet to lose a dual singles match this season.
“Bernard has been a little under the weather, so it’s good to see him come through and be able to play,” Tucker said.
Anthrop won 6-4, 6-3 on court three over senior Alex Petrov. To close the match, Bernard clinched the winning point after taking the first and second sets, 6-4, 6-2, on court five over sophomore Oliver Okonkwo.
“Starting Big Ten play, I’m just trying to bring good energy and a good attitude every day to the court,” Anthrop said. “It’s the first weekend of Big Ten play so there’s still a long way to go with it, but this is a good way to start.”
The Buckeyes will continue Big Ten play on the road for the next few weeks starting with a match against Purdue on Friday at 4 p.m. in West Lafayette, Indiana.
