The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Ohio State
No. 6 Men’s Tennis falls to No. 2 Ohio State, 4-0
02.17.2019 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns take their first loss of the season after reaching the semifinals of the ITA Indoors.
Chicago – The No. 6 Texas Men's Tennis team fell to No. 2 Ohio State, 4-0, in the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championship on Sunday in Chicago.
It was the Longhorns' first loss of the season in dual match play and they now stand at 11-1. The match marked the second time in program history they reached the semifinals of the tournament after doing so in 2010.
Texas was competitive throughout the match as in singles it came down to a photo finish to attempt to pick up a point. Senior Colin Markes played a tremendous match against No. 86 Alex Kobelt in fifth singles and was sitting on three match points just as the overall team match ended. His first set went to a tiebreaker and despite finding himself in a 5-1 hole in that frame, he fought back for an 8-6 win. He was on the verge of winning three straight games, including two deuce points to win the second set, but it was left at 5-4 (40-15).
Senior Harrison Scott pushed his match to a third set against Martin Joyce in fourth singles. Joyce won the first set 6-4, but Scott responded with a 6-3 win in the second. The match went unfinished with Joyce leading 3-0 in the third. Freshman Chih Chi Huang came up just short getting to a third set in his match against Hunter Tubert in sixth singles. Huang dropped the first set, 6-2, and was down 4-1 in the second, but rallied to even the set, 5-5, before going to a tiebreaker two games later where Tubert was able to emerge, 7-3.
Ohio State also picked up singles points as No. 2 JJ Wolf defeated junior No. 6 Christian Sigsgaard, 6-4, 6-1, and No. 62 John McNally topped junior No. 14 Yuya Ito, 7-5, 6-3. Senior No. 91 Leonardo Telles' match against No. 12 Kyle Seelig was left unfinished with Seelig leading, 7-5, 5-2.
Earlier in the day, the Longhorns dropped their first doubles point of the season. No. 13 Scott and Sigsgaard topped Wolf and Joyce, 6-3, while No. 7 Seelig and Kobelt defeated Markes and Telles, 6-2. The point came down to the match between Huang and Ito against McNally and Tubert. Neither team broke serve throughout until Huang and Ito managed to do so to take a 6-5 lead, however McNally and Tubert answered with a break of their own to send it to a breaker that they eventually won, 7-1.
Texas will now have nine days off before returning to the road, first at No. 19 Tulane on Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. in New Orleans, and then at No. 24 Georgia on March 3 at 12 p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET in Athens.
No. 2 Ohio State 4, No. 6 Texas 0
Singles – Order of Finish (1,6,2)
1. #2 JJ Wolf (OSU) def. #6 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 6-4, 6-1
2. #62 John McNally (OSU) def. #14 Yuya Ito (UT) 7-5, 6-3
3. #12 Kyle Seelig (OSU) vs. #91 Leonardo Telles (UT) 7-5, 5-2, unfinished
4. Martin Joyce (OSU) vs. Harrison Scott (UT) 6-4, 3-6, 3-0, unfinished
5. #86 Alex Kobelt (OSU) vs. Colin Markes (UT) 6-7 (6-8), 4-5, unfinished
6. Hunter Tubert (OSU) def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,1,3)
1. #13 Christian Sigsgaard/Harrison Scott (UT) def. JJ Wolf/Martin Joyce (OSU) 6-3
2. #7 Kyle Seelig/Alex Kobelt (OSU) def. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT) 6-2
3. John McNally/Hunter Tubert (OSU) def. Chih Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (UT) 7-6 (7-1)
Players Mentioned
