Ohio State
Illinois **
Buckeyes Fall 4-3 to Illinois in the Finals
5/2/2021 5:32:03 PM | Men's Tennis
LINCOLN, Neb. – In as close of a match as one could get, Ohio State came up a couple of points short in a 4-3 loss to Illinois in the championship match of the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday in Lincoln.
It was a heck of a back-and-forth match between two great teams. The deciding singles match came down to Ohio State sixth-year senior Kyle Seelig and Illinois fifth-year senior Zeke Clark. The players split the first two sets and then battled into a third-set tiebreaker. Clark pulled away with three consecutive points at the end to win 7-4.
The loss snaps Ohio State’s 11-match win streak and the Buckeyes are now 20-3 on the season. Illinois improves to 21-2 overall.
Illinois got early breaks in all three doubles matches and held the advantage throughout. The Illini won 6-2 on court two and 6-3 on court three. They also led 5-4 on court one. The doubles point once again proved pivotal.
Any momentum the Illini gained with the doubles win was short-lived, however, as Ohio State jumped out quick. The Buckeyes won five of the six first sets and in the one they lost, McNally rebounded to win the second set.
Cannon Kingsley capped an impressive run through the Big Ten as he dominated #101 Siphosothando Montsi 6-1, 6-2 to even the team score at 1-1. Kingsley remains perfect on the season at 27-0.
James Trotter put the Buckeyes in front 2-1 with his 6-3, 6-4 win over Alex Brown. Trotter is now 13-1 on the year.
JJ Tracy breezed through the first set with Hunter Heck, winning 6-0, and he looked well on his way to his 25th consecutive win. But Heck bounced back to win the second set 6-3 and then took the third set as well 7-5. That was Tracy’s first loss in a dual singles match this season and he is now 24-3 on the year.
John McNally put the Buckeyes ahead again as he claimed an impressive 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over #118 Aleks Kovacevic. This was Kovacevic’s first loss this season. For McNally, he is 21-4 on the year and has six wins over ranked opponents.
Robert Cash won the first set against Noe Khlif but then dropped the next two 6-3, 7-5 and Illinois tied the match at 3-3.
Seelig and Clark were well behind the other matches in pace because their first set also went to a tiebreaker. Seelig won that first breaker 9-7 but Clark responded by winning the second set 6-3. In the third, Clark was up a break at 5-3 and was serving for the match but Seelig broke back to get back on serve. Both players then held serve into the breaker, which Clark eventually won.
The Buckeyes are 20-3 on the season and all three losses were to quality opponents. The first was a 4-2 setback to ACC Champion Virginia and the other two were 4-3 losses at Michigan and today to Illinois.
Ohio State will now wait to find out its NCAA Tournament fate. The NCAA men’s tennis selection show will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 3.
Illinois 4, Ohio State 3
Singles
1. John McNally (OSU) def. #118 Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Cannon Kingsley (OSU) def. #101 Siphosothando Montsi (ILL) 6-1, 6-2
3. James Trotter (OSU) def. Alex Brown (ILL) 6-3, 6-4
4. #83 Zeke Clark (ILL) def. Kyle Seelig (OSU) 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
5. Hunter Heck (ILL) def. JJ Tracy (OSU) 0-6, 6-3, 7-5
6. Noe Khlif (ILL) def. Robert Cash (OSU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Doubles
1. #73 John McNally/Robert Cash (OSU) vs. #28 Alex Brown/Zeke Clark (ILL) 4-5, unfinished
2. Noe Khlif/Siphosothando Montsi (ILL) def. Cannon Kingsley/Kyle Seelig (OSU) 6-2
3. Hunter Heck/Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) def. JJ Tracy/Justin Boulais (OSU) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,3,5,1,6,4)
#GoBuckeyes
