The Ohio State Buckeyes are the ITA indoor national champions.
On Monday, Ohio State beat TCU, 4-3, in comeback fashion to secure the program's third title at the ITA Indoor National Championships.
Needing to win the final two singles matches of the event to take home the trophy, Alexander Bernard and Robert Cash both won their third sets to secure the national title for the Buckeyes.
Robert Cash wins it in three and the Buckeyes are ITA Indoor National Champions!!! pic.twitter.com/DsPt3el8yy
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioStateMTEN) February 19, 2024
Bernard and Cash started off the match with a win by defeating Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted, 6-2, to place Ohio State ahead in the doubles matches. But the Horned Frogs tied the Buckeyes when Pedro Vives and Sebastian Gorzny defeated Andrew Lutschaunig and Justin Boulais, 6-3.
The doubles point came down to Court 2. In a back-and-forth match between Cannon Kingsley and JJ Tracy of Ohio State and Jake Fearnley and Jack Pinnington of TCU, the Buckeyes and Horned Frogs were tied 4-4 after 30 minutes of action. In the last nine minutes, Fearnley and Pinnington delivered the final blows and won a pair of games to take the match, 6-4. TCU won the doubles point and held a 1-0 lead.
After a brief intermission, singles matches started between the teams. TCU claimed its second team point after Fearnley defeated Kingsley, 6-1, 6-0. Ohio State leveled the score as Tracy beat Vives, 6-4, 6-4, and Jack Anthrop beat Gorzney, 7-5, 6-2.
Six minutes later, Boulais lost to Pinnington, 6-4, 6-4, which allowed the Horned Frogs to move ahead 3-2. But once again, the Buckeyes tied the match, as Bernard took down Tomas Jirousek in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Like the final doubles point before it, the final singles point came down to one match: Cash and Maxted on Court 5.
Maxted took the first game, 7(7)-6(3), but Cash responded and won the second, 6-4. Midway through the third game, Bernard defeated Jirousek, leaving Maxted and Cash in a winner-takes-all situation in the final game of the final match. Cash prevailed, overcoming Maxted in a 6-3 decision and securing the championship trophy for the Buckeyes.
Before 2024, Ohio State appeared in the championship match of the ITA Indoors seven times and won the title in 2014 and 2019. With Ohio State's win over TCU, the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes claim their third title at the ITA Indoors and improve to 13-0 in 2024.
Ohio State will return to action this weekend at Notre Dame on Saturday. The Buckeyes will remain on the road for the following three weeks and will face Baylor (Feb. 28), Illinois (March 6), Texas (March 10), Texas A&M (March 13) and Michigan (March 17). Ohio State's next match at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center will come vs. Northwestern on March 22.
Ohio State vs. TCU
Doubles
- Pedro Vives and Sebastian Gorzny (TCU) def. Andrew Lutschaunig and Justin Boulais, 6-3
- Jake Fearnley and Jack Pinnington (TCU) def. Cannon Kingsley and JJ Tracy, 6-4
- Alexander Bernard and Robert Cash def. Duncan Chan and Lui Maxted (TCU), 6-2
Singles
- No. 62 Jake Fearnley (TCU) def. No. 67 Cannon Kingsley (OSU), 6-1, 6-0
- No. 4 Jack Pinnington TCU def No. 25 Justin Boulais (OSU), 6-4, 6-4
- No. 7 JJ Tracy def. No. 20 Pedro Vives (TCU), 6-4, 6-4
- No. 13 Jack Anthrop def. No. 39 Sebastian Gorzney (TCU), 7-5, 6-2
- No. 59 Lui Maxted (TCU) vs. Robert Cash
- No. 86 Alexander Bernard def. Tomas Jirousek (TCU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Team Score
Ohio State 4 - TCU 3
