Buckeyes Outlast Illinois 4-3, Advance to B1G Semifinals

Friday, April 25

Columbus, Ohio

9 a.m.

Ohio State

Illinois

Buckeyes Outlast Illinois 4-3, Advance to B1G Semifinals

4/25/2025 3:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the third time this season, No. 6 Ohio State took down Illinois, this time by a score of 4-3 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Columbus.

The Buckeyes are now 25-2 on the season and will play Washington on Saturday morning in the semifinals.

Illinois took the doubles point but the Buckeyes would win five of the six first sets. The Illini turned around the match on court one and would lead 3-2 before the Buckeyes got wins from Bryce Nakashima and Jack Anthrop to seal the 4-3 victory.

The Buckeyes also beat Illinois 4-0 on March 5 in Columbus and 4-1 in Champaign on April 14. Ohio State is 38-14 against Illinois since Ty Tucker took over in 2000.

Doubles

Illinois went up an early break at 2-1 on court three and rode that edge to a 6-4 victory.
On court two, Brandon Carpico hit a great backhand return to put he and Nikita Filin up a break at 4-3 and they too would hold on for a 6-4 win.
The match on court one stayed on serve throughout and was decided by a tiebreaker.

Singles

The first singles win came in dominating fashion from Preston Stearns on court six. His serve had Mathis Debru off balance all match and he rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
Alexander Bernard then gave the Buckeyes a 2-1 lead with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 84 William Mroz on court two.
Illinois followed shortly after with wins on court four and court one to take a 3-2 lead.
But Nakashima and Anthrop were in control of their matches after winning the opening sets.
Nakashima fought for a late break in the opening set against Jeremy Zhang and used that for a 6-4 victory. He then had the momentum in a 6-2 win in the second set to take the match.
Anthrop battled Tyler Bowers into a first-set tiebreak only to roll to a 7-2 victory in the tiebreaker. He then won 6-4 in the second to clinch the match and push the Buckeyes into the next round.

Up Next

Ohio State advances to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals and will play the winner of the match between Washington and Nebraska at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning.

#6 Ohio State 4, Illinois 3

Singles
1. #14 Kenta Miyoshi (ILLINI) def. #12 Aidan Kim (OSU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-0
2. #62 Alexander Bernard (OSU) def. #84 William Mroz (ILLINI) 6-3, 6-4
3. #101 Jack Anthrop (OSU) def. Tyler Bowers (ILLINI) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
4. Zach Viiala (ILLINI) def. Chris Li (OSU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Bryce Nakashima (OSU) def. Jeremy Zhang (ILLINI) 6-4, 6-2
6. Preston Stearns (OSU) def. Mathis Debru (ILLINI) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles
1. Tyler Bowers/Mathis Debru (ILLINI) def. Aidan Kim/Will Jansen (OSU) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Nikita Filin/Brandon Carpico (OSU) def. William Mroz/Zach Viiala (ILLINI) 6-4
3. Kenta Miyoshi/Max Mroz (ILLINI) def. Alexander Bernard/Alex Fuchs (OSU) 6-4

Match Notes:
Illinois 15-10
Ohio State 24-2; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,2,4,1,5,3)
Official: Douglas Rice T-2:50

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