Wednesday, November 1
Madison, Wisc.
All Day
Ohio State
at
Big Ten Singles & Doubles Championship
Nakashima and Stearns Win Big Ten Doubles Title
11/4/2023 7:53:00 PM | Men's Tennis
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State men's tennis' great fall was capped on Saturday by freshman Bryce Nakashima and redshirt-freshman Preston Stearns winning the Big Ten doubles title on Saturday evening in Madison, Wisc.
The Buckeye duo is the eighth Ohio State team to win the Big Ten doubles title and the first since 2019. Nakashima and Stearns beat back-to-back Michigan teams in the semifinals and finals to win the title.
The doubles tournament started on Thursday night and Nakashima and Stearns hardly broke a sweat in a 6-1 victory over Nebraska's Mert Oral and Rudolf Christiansen. On Friday, they took down Northwestern's duo of Felix Nordby and Gleb Blekher 6-4 to earn a spot in the semifinals.
In Saturday morning's semifinals, they won a really good match with Michigan's top-seeded tandem of Nino Ehrenschneider and Patron Hanchaikul 7-4 in a tiebreaker. Following the singles matches, they took on another Michigan team in Alex Cairo and Bjorn Swenson in the finals. Just like the opening round, they weren't on the court long as they blitzed the Michigan pair 6-1 to claim the crown.
In singles, both Nakashima and Stearns advanced to the quarterfinals before bowing out. Nakashima had a bye in the opening round and then picked up wins over Northwestern's Owen Megargee 6-7(6), 6-3, 10-4 and Michigan's Alex Cairo 6-3, 6-1. He would drop his quarterfinal match 7-5, 6-4 to Nebraska's Shunya Maruyama.
Stearns started on Friday with a round of 64 win over Northwestern's Greyson Casey 6-4, 6-3 and then topped Indiana's Ilya Tiraspolsky 6-4, 6-7(7), 10-8. On Saturday, he rolled past Wisconsin's Tomas Zlatohlavek 6-2, 6-4 before falling in straight sets to Calvin Mueller of Nebraska in the quarterfinals.
Redshirt-sophomore Reece Yakubov also competed this weekend and picked up a couple of victories. He teamed with Michigan State's Josh Portnoy to win an opening round doubles match over Penn State's Alexander Sterin and Nolan Ranger 6-3. They then fell in the second round to Nordby and Blekher. In singles, he defeated Northwestern's Greyson Casey 6-4, 6-3 before losing to Saiprakash Goli of Indiana. He and Portnoy also claimed a consolation doubles win over Christiansen and Oral 6-1.
Singles
November 3, 2023
64 Reece Yakubov (Ohio State) def. Ekansh Kumar (Indiana) 0-6, 6-3, 10-7
64 Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Greyson Casey (Northwestern) 6-4, 6-3
32 Bryce Nakashima (Ohio State) def. Owen Megargee (Northwestern) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 10-4
32 Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Ilya Tiraspolsky (Indiana) 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 10-8
32 Saiprakash Goli (Indiana) def. Reece Yakubov (Ohio State) 6-3, 6-4
November 4, 2023
16 Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Tomas Zlatohlavek (Wisconsin) 6-2, 6-4
16 Bryce Nakashima (Ohio State) def. Alex Cairo (Michigan) 6-3, 6-1
QF Calvin Mueller (Nebraska) def. Preston Stearns (Ohio State) 6-1, 6-4
QF Shunya Maruyama (Nebraska) def. Bryce Nakashima (Ohio State) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles
November 2, 2023
32 Reece Yakubov/Josh Portnoy (Ohio State) def. Alexander Sterin/Nolan Ranger (Penn State) 6-3
16 Bryce Nakashima/Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Mert Oral/Rudolf Christiansen (Nebraska) 6-1
16 Felix Nordby/Gleb Blekher (Northwestern) def. Reece Yakubov/Josh Portnoy (Ohio State) 6-2
November 3, 2023
QF Bryce Nakashima/Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Felix Nordby/Gleb Blekher (Northwestern) 6-4
C1 Reece Yakubov/Josh Portnoy (Ohio State) def. Rudolf Christiansen/Mert Oral (Michigan) 6-1
November 4, 2023
SF Bryce Nakashima/Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Nino Ehrenschneider/Patron Hanchaikul (Michigan) 7-6 (7-4)
F Bryce Nakashima/Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Alex Cairo/Bjorn Swenson (Michigan) 6-1
The Buckeye duo is the eighth Ohio State team to win the Big Ten doubles title and the first since 2019. Nakashima and Stearns beat back-to-back Michigan teams in the semifinals and finals to win the title.
The doubles tournament started on Thursday night and Nakashima and Stearns hardly broke a sweat in a 6-1 victory over Nebraska's Mert Oral and Rudolf Christiansen. On Friday, they took down Northwestern's duo of Felix Nordby and Gleb Blekher 6-4 to earn a spot in the semifinals.
In Saturday morning's semifinals, they won a really good match with Michigan's top-seeded tandem of Nino Ehrenschneider and Patron Hanchaikul 7-4 in a tiebreaker. Following the singles matches, they took on another Michigan team in Alex Cairo and Bjorn Swenson in the finals. Just like the opening round, they weren't on the court long as they blitzed the Michigan pair 6-1 to claim the crown.
In singles, both Nakashima and Stearns advanced to the quarterfinals before bowing out. Nakashima had a bye in the opening round and then picked up wins over Northwestern's Owen Megargee 6-7(6), 6-3, 10-4 and Michigan's Alex Cairo 6-3, 6-1. He would drop his quarterfinal match 7-5, 6-4 to Nebraska's Shunya Maruyama.
Stearns started on Friday with a round of 64 win over Northwestern's Greyson Casey 6-4, 6-3 and then topped Indiana's Ilya Tiraspolsky 6-4, 6-7(7), 10-8. On Saturday, he rolled past Wisconsin's Tomas Zlatohlavek 6-2, 6-4 before falling in straight sets to Calvin Mueller of Nebraska in the quarterfinals.
Redshirt-sophomore Reece Yakubov also competed this weekend and picked up a couple of victories. He teamed with Michigan State's Josh Portnoy to win an opening round doubles match over Penn State's Alexander Sterin and Nolan Ranger 6-3. They then fell in the second round to Nordby and Blekher. In singles, he defeated Northwestern's Greyson Casey 6-4, 6-3 before losing to Saiprakash Goli of Indiana. He and Portnoy also claimed a consolation doubles win over Christiansen and Oral 6-1.
Singles
November 3, 2023
64 Reece Yakubov (Ohio State) def. Ekansh Kumar (Indiana) 0-6, 6-3, 10-7
64 Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Greyson Casey (Northwestern) 6-4, 6-3
32 Bryce Nakashima (Ohio State) def. Owen Megargee (Northwestern) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 10-4
32 Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Ilya Tiraspolsky (Indiana) 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 10-8
32 Saiprakash Goli (Indiana) def. Reece Yakubov (Ohio State) 6-3, 6-4
November 4, 2023
16 Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Tomas Zlatohlavek (Wisconsin) 6-2, 6-4
16 Bryce Nakashima (Ohio State) def. Alex Cairo (Michigan) 6-3, 6-1
QF Calvin Mueller (Nebraska) def. Preston Stearns (Ohio State) 6-1, 6-4
QF Shunya Maruyama (Nebraska) def. Bryce Nakashima (Ohio State) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles
November 2, 2023
32 Reece Yakubov/Josh Portnoy (Ohio State) def. Alexander Sterin/Nolan Ranger (Penn State) 6-3
16 Bryce Nakashima/Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Mert Oral/Rudolf Christiansen (Nebraska) 6-1
16 Felix Nordby/Gleb Blekher (Northwestern) def. Reece Yakubov/Josh Portnoy (Ohio State) 6-2
November 3, 2023
QF Bryce Nakashima/Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Felix Nordby/Gleb Blekher (Northwestern) 6-4
C1 Reece Yakubov/Josh Portnoy (Ohio State) def. Rudolf Christiansen/Mert Oral (Michigan) 6-1
November 4, 2023
SF Bryce Nakashima/Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Nino Ehrenschneider/Patron Hanchaikul (Michigan) 7-6 (7-4)
F Bryce Nakashima/Preston Stearns (Ohio State) def. Alex Cairo/Bjorn Swenson (Michigan) 6-1
Players Mentioned
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