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Ohio State
No. 5 Men’s Tennis falls at No. 6 Ohio State, 4-1
01.30.2026 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns secured two individual top-five wins during the match but came up short on the road in Columbus.
Columbus, Ohio – No. 5 Texas Men's Tennis fell on the road at No. 6 Ohio State, 4-1, on Friday at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center in Columbus.
The Longhorns secured two individual top-five wins during the match but came up short in their first road match of the season.
Ohio State came into the match with three top-10 doubles teams and took the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 1 surrounding Texas' victory at No. 3, which was one of the Longhorns' top-five victories. The Buckeyes went up 2-0 after freshman Kalin Ivanovski was forced to retire in singles, and although Texas pulled within one when senior No. 39 Sebastian Gorzny earned the other top-five win at No. 1, the Buckeyes closed by taking Nos. 6 and 5.
In doubles, the pair of Gorzny and freshman Lucas Marionneau had a deuce-point to get back on serve while down 5-3, but the No. 5 pair of Nikita Filin and Brandon Carpico was able to hold for the 6-3 win at No. 2.
The Longhorns evened doubles at No. 3 as sophomore Oliver Ojakaar returned to action and paired with sophomore Sebastian Eriksson to top No. 3 Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima, 6-4.
That left it to No. 1 where Ivanovski and freshman Abel Forger rallied from a 5-3 deficit to tie their match, 5-5, against No. 10 Alex Okonkwo and Alexander Bernard. However, after Texas had deflected a match point at deuce to do that, Ohio State broke back to regain the lead and then served out the match.
The Buckeyes' overall lead grew to 2-0 when Ivanovski was forced to retire due to injury in his singles match against No. 51 Preston Stearns while trailing, 1-6, 0-1.
In the first fully completed singles match, Gorzny registered his third top-30 win in his last four singles contests with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over No. 5 Kim at No. 1 and pulled Texas within 2-1.
However, junior Lucas Brown was downed by Loren Byers, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 6, and a few moments later, senior Jonah Braswell fell to No. 42 Filin, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5. Brown had a break chance at deuce to get back on serve in the second set, but Byers managed to hold for the match.
In the remaining matches, No. 25 Eriksson had started a third set against No. 22 Jack Anthrop, and was trailing by just a game, 0-6, 6-1, 1-2 at No. 3. Meanwhile, Forger had a set lead against No. 48 Okonkwo, 7-6 (8), 2-4, at No. 4 when play stopped.
The Longhorns will next return home to host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, February 7 at 1 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center.
#6 Ohio State 4, #5 Texas 1
Singles – Order of Finish (2,1,6,5)
1. #39 Sebastian Gorzny (TEX) def. #5 Aidan Kim (OSU) 6-4, 6-0
2. #51 Preston Stearns (OSU) def. Kalin Ivanovski (TEX) 6-1, 1-0, ret.
3. #22 Jack Anthrop (OSU) vs. #25 Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) 6-0, 1-6, 2-1, unf.
4. #48 Alex Okonkwo (OSU) vs. Abel Forger (TEX) 6-7, 4-2, unf.
5. #42 Nikita Filin (OSU) def. Jonah Braswell (TEX) 6-1, 6-3
6. Loren Byers (OSU) def. Lucas Brown (TEX) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (2,3,1)
1. #10 Alex Okonkwo/Alexander Bernard (OSU) def. Kalin Ivanovski/Abel Forger (TEX) 7-5
2. #5 Nikita Filin/Brandon Carpico (OSU) def. Sebastian Gorzny/Lucas Marionneau (TEX) 6-3
3. Oliver Ojakaar/Sebastian Eriksson (TEX) def. #3 Aidan Kim/Bryce Nakashima (OSU) 6-4
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 2: Filin/Carpico (OSU) def. Gorzny/Marionneau (TEX) 6-3
Ohio State picked up the only break of the match for 5-3 and then held at deuce for the match.
Doubles No. 3: Ojakaar/Eriksson (TEX) def. Kim/Nakashima (OSU) 6-4
Texas earned the only break of the match for a 4-3 lead and then held at deuce for the match.
Doubles No. 1: Okonkwo/Bernard (OSU) def. Ivanovski/Forger (TEX) 7-5
Ohio State broke at deuce for a 4-3 lead and Texas got the break back at deuce for 5-5 before the Buckeyes won the last two games.
Singles No. 2: Stearns (OSU) def. Ivanovski (TEX) 6-1, 1-0, ret.
First Set: Stearns converted both of his breaks at deuce for 3-1 and 5-1 in the first set.
Singles No. 1: Gorzny (TEX) def. Kim (OSU) 6-4, 6-0
First Set: Gorzny broke first and consolidated for 3-1 and the players later exchanged deuce-point breaks for 5-2 and 5-3 before the last two games were held.
Second Set: Gorzny broke all three of Kim's serves at deuce and swept the set.
Singles No. 6: Byers (OSU) def. Brown (TEX) 6-3, 6-4
First Set: Byers grabbed the only break of the set for a 2-0 lead.
Second Set: The second set stayed on serve until Byers took the only break for a 5-4 lead and then held at deuce to win.
Singles No. 5: Filin (OSU) def. Braswell (TEX) 6-1, 6-3
First Set: Filin picked up both of his breaks at deuce for 3-1 and 5-1.
Second Set: Filin broke in the first game and the last game, while avoiding a break chance at deuce for Braswell for 5-3.
Singles No. 3: Anthrop (OSU) vs. Eriksson (TEX) 6-0, 1-6, 2-1, unf.
First Set: Anthrop swept the first set with no deuce points.
Second Set: Eriksson broke at deuce in the first game to start a 4-0 run and later broke again for the set.
Third Set: Anthrop broke in the last game before play stopped.
Singles No. 4: Okonkwo (OSU) vs. Forger (TEX) 6-7, 4-2, unf.
First Set: Both players broke to start before Forger held at deuce and Okonkwo also held. They exchanged breaks again for 3-3, and the set stayed on serve to the tiebreakers.
First Set Tiebreaker: Forger went on a 3-0 run to lead 3-1, and although Okonkwo answered the run, Forger posted another one to lead, 6-4. Okonkwo evened it, but Forger secured the last two points to win.
Second Set: Okonkwo broke in the last game before play stopped.
Players Mentioned
