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.
The freshman wins it!!
Buckeyes are headed to the semifinals!!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/uFTUjWEmC1
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioStateMTEN) May 19, 2023
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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