Champions Again! Rola and Buchanan Win Columbus Challenger – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 26, 2015
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the second-straight week, the doubles team of Blaz Rola and Chase Buchanan were crowned champions. This week was in front of the home crowd as they won the ATP Columbus Challenger in epic fashion.
After traded 6-4 victories in the first two sets with Eric Quigley and Mitchell Krueger, the two sides played an epic match tie-breaker with Rola and Buchanan coming out on top 19-17.
“Unbelievable finish. 19-17. What can you say,” Rola said. “It got to the point where either team could win. It was the longest tie-break we have ever played and having it here in this building in front our fans was so exciting.”
The win is the third Challenger title for Rola and Buchanan this year and their second in the last two weeks. They won last week’s event in Cary, N.C. and also won the Challenger event in Sau Paulo, Brazil in April.
The Buckeye duo jumped out early in the first set, getting the first two breaks of the match. But Krueger and Quigley answered right back by breaking both Rola and Buchanan on their next two serves to get back into the set.
Looking to even the set at 5-5, Krueger and Quigley were again broken on a beautiful return from Buchanan, giving the Buckeye tandem a 6-4 first set win.
The teams traded breaks early in the second and the Krueger and Quigley broke again to go ahead 5-4. Quigley then held serve to take the second set 6-4.
“I kind of felt like we let it slide there in the second so going into the tie-break, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Buchanan. “They got some momentum heading into that breaker and once you’re in it, you never know what’s going to happen.
Again, the teams traded breaks early in the tie-breaker but after that, each side held serve. As the breaker wore on, it all came down to who was going to flinch first. It turned out to be Quigley who missed just long on a volley, giving Rola and Buchanan championship point at 18-17. Buchanan then drilled a serve which wasn’t returned and the Buckeyes claimed their second-straight tournament victory.
“I think both sides got more tight, excited and nervous the longer the tie-breaker went on,” Rola said. “And somehow we played some of our best tennis towards the end. Both teams had a high first-serve percentage. There weren’t many stupid errors. It was a really a quality tie breaker.”
Asked what he could take from the tie-breaker, Rola joked, “Maybe we should play nervous more often.
Buchanan and Rola will look to make it three titles in a row next week as they head to San Francisco, Calif., for the Tiberon Challenger.
