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Ohio State defeated Arkansas 4-1 on Sunday, crowning them ITA Kickoff Weekend Champions.
Doubles play went smoothly for the Buckeyes as they took the match lead 1-0 behind wins from Wolf/Joyce and Kobelt/Trotter.
The singles matches however, were a much tougher battle for the Buckeyes. Both teams went back and forth in most of the matches and at times, it was tough to tell how things would go for Ohio State.
But sure enough, down the stretch, Kyle Seelig came up big to win the third and final singles match after JJ Wolf and Hunter Tubert had already been victorious. Seelig’s match went to a tiebreaker to decide the ITA Kickoff Weekend Final.
Singles competition
1. JJ Wolf (OSU) def. Oscar Mesquida (AR) 6-3, 6-3
2. Adam Sanjurjo (AR) def. John McNally (OSU) 7-5, 6-3
3. Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Alex Reco (AR) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
4. James Trotter (OSU) vs. Pedro Alonso (AR) 6-2, 5-7, unfinished
5. Martin Joyce (OSU) vs. Enrique Paya (AR) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, unfinished
6. Hunter Tubert (OSU) def. Jose Alonso (AR) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. JJ Wolf/Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Oscar Mesquida/Adam Sanjurjo (AR) 6-3
2. Alex Kobelt/James Trotter (OSU) def. Maxim Verboven/Enrique Paya (AR) 6-2
3. Hunter Tubert/John McNally (OSU) vs. Alex Reco/Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) 5-3, unfinished
The Buckeyes are 22-0 when competing in the ITA Kickoff Weekend with a point differential of 111-6. Todays 4-1 scoreline marks the first time Ohio State has conceded a point in the ITA event since 2014.
With the win in this event, Ohio State has earned its spot at the ITA Division 1 National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago on February 15-17.
The Ohio State University men’s tennis team is coming off their first marquee win of the season with a 6-1 win over then-No. 9 Stanford on February 2. The No. 2 ranked Buckeyes are now 6-0 and welcome Arizona State and No. 24 Georgia this weekend.
Ohio State will first take on Arizona State on Friday. The Sun Devils currently sit at 2-3, but have narrow losses to Oklahoma State and No. 1 ranked Wake Forrest. Arizona State has won back-to-back matches against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine leading up to their showdown with Ohio State. Leading the Sun Devils is Nathan Ponwith, who currently sits at No. 65 in the nation.
Ohio State’s second match of the weekend will take place on Sunday when the No. 24 ranked Georgia Bulldogs come to Columbus. Georgia has started the season 1-2, with a win over Georgia Tech at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Georgia currently has six players ranked in the top 125 including No. 7 Jan Zielinski and No. 22 Emil Reinberg.
The Buckeyes have five players ranked nationally in singles and two doubles tandems in the ITA top 10. JJ Wolf, Kyle Seelig, John McNally, Tim Seibert and Alex Kobelt are currently ranked in the top 125 players in the nation while Seelig, Kobelt, Martin Joyce and Hunter Tubert are ranked in the top 10 in doubles. Wolf and Seelig both moved up one spot. They are now ranked No. 2 and No. 12 in the nation respectively in singles. In addition, Alex Kobelt jumped into the national rankings this week and sits at No. 86.
Ohio State will look to improve to 8-0 on the season this weekend and take down another ranked opponent.
Bucks have a big home weekend with Arizona State Friday night and perennial power Georgia Sunday.
ITA released rankings of teams, singles and doubles. Bucks stayed steady as the #2 ranked team in the nation behind 2018 champion Wake Forest.
Five Buckeye single's players were ranked in the top 125, Wolf, Seelig, McNally, Siebert and Junior Alex Kobelt, who jumped into the national rankings at No. 86 thanks to a win over No. 29 Sameer Kumar of Stanford. Two Buckeye doubles teams also made the national rankings with Alex Kobelt and Kyle Seelig ranked No. 7 and seniors Hunter Tubert and Martin Joyce No. 11.
Preview of the weekend matches from the official site
Link
I knew Alex waaayyy back and I do not think that there are many guys on the Ohio State team that would outwork him. They might be a little bit better than him but his never give up attitude and determination (grittiness) are worth a couple points in any match that he plays.Is Kobelt now actually better than Joyce?