Photo by: Ohio State Athletics
Ohio State Enters ITA All-Americans Main Draw with Eight Players
9/23/2026 9:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Through the pre-qualifier and qualifier draws at the ITA All-American Championships, the Buckeyes enter the main draw of the event with eight athletes competing across singles and doubles.
TULSA, Okla. – The Ohio State men's tennis team started their season competing at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla this past weekend. Seven Buckeyes competed in the pre-qualifying and qualifying draws of the tournament in both singles and doubles.
The tournament kicked off with pre-qualifiers on Saturday, Sept. 19. Brandon Carpico and Ilija Palavestra represented the Buckeyes in singles for this draw, each reaching the second round. However, neither was able to advance to qualifiers after falling to opponents from TCU and Nebraska.
In the qualifying draw, freshman Denis Petak made his debut for the Buckeyes in singles and doubles, partnered with Palavestra. Petak saw success in singles, defeating opponents from Texas A&M and TCU to advance to the tournament's main draw. In doubles, Petak and Palavestra defeated the No. 65 ranked team from Arizona State to advance to the second round but fell to No. 59 Luis Llorens Saracho and Peter Nad.
The second doubles pair for the Buckeyes featured senior Alex Okonkwo paired up with the junior transfer Matthew Forbes to win both their round one and two matches. Both victories were come from behind, three-set wins defeating the No. 78 ranked team from Baylor and opponents from TCU to advance to the main draw for doubles.
Finally, Alex Fuchs and Preston Stearns were the last pairing in qualifiers but wasn't able to secure a win in the two matches they played.
Up next the Buckeyes have eight athletes competing in the main draw across singles and doubles. Aidan Kim, Nikita Filin, Bryce Nakashima, Petak, Stearns, Forbes and Okonkwo will all compete in singles, while the pairings of Kim/Nakashima, Forbes/Okonkwo and Filin/Brandon Carpico will compete in doubles. Every Buckeye in the main draw is ranked in the top 100 in singles and top 40 in doubles by the ITA.
The main draw offers an opportunity for 10 singles players and five doubles teams to reach the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship in November. Additionally, the ITA All-American singles and doubles champions are automatically recognized as All-Americans for the 2026-27 season.
Main Draw Schedule – Sept. 23, 2026 (ET)
Singles
The tournament kicked off with pre-qualifiers on Saturday, Sept. 19. Brandon Carpico and Ilija Palavestra represented the Buckeyes in singles for this draw, each reaching the second round. However, neither was able to advance to qualifiers after falling to opponents from TCU and Nebraska.
In the qualifying draw, freshman Denis Petak made his debut for the Buckeyes in singles and doubles, partnered with Palavestra. Petak saw success in singles, defeating opponents from Texas A&M and TCU to advance to the tournament's main draw. In doubles, Petak and Palavestra defeated the No. 65 ranked team from Arizona State to advance to the second round but fell to No. 59 Luis Llorens Saracho and Peter Nad.
The second doubles pair for the Buckeyes featured senior Alex Okonkwo paired up with the junior transfer Matthew Forbes to win both their round one and two matches. Both victories were come from behind, three-set wins defeating the No. 78 ranked team from Baylor and opponents from TCU to advance to the main draw for doubles.
Finally, Alex Fuchs and Preston Stearns were the last pairing in qualifiers but wasn't able to secure a win in the two matches they played.
Up next the Buckeyes have eight athletes competing in the main draw across singles and doubles. Aidan Kim, Nikita Filin, Bryce Nakashima, Petak, Stearns, Forbes and Okonkwo will all compete in singles, while the pairings of Kim/Nakashima, Forbes/Okonkwo and Filin/Brandon Carpico will compete in doubles. Every Buckeye in the main draw is ranked in the top 100 in singles and top 40 in doubles by the ITA.
The main draw offers an opportunity for 10 singles players and five doubles teams to reach the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship in November. Additionally, the ITA All-American singles and doubles champions are automatically recognized as All-Americans for the 2026-27 season.
Main Draw Schedule – Sept. 23, 2026 (ET)
Singles
- No. 7 Aidan Kim vs. No. 26 Romain Gales (Clemson) @ 11 AM
- No. 51 Nikita Filin vs. No. 50 Matic Kriznik (Alabama) @ 11 AM
- No. 58 Bryce Nakashima vs. No. 57 Alexander Frusina (Texas A&M) @ 11 AM
- No. 96 Denis Petak vs. No. 39 Henry Jefferson (Florida) @ 12:30 PM
- No. 10 Matthew Forbes vs. No. 71 Aryan Shah (Wake Forest) @ 2 PM
- No. 27 Alex Okonkwo vs. No. 56 Hudson Rivera (Stanford) @ 2:30 PM
- No. 12 Preston Stearns vs. Louis Bowden (Baylor) @ 3:30 PM
- No. 15 Aidan Kim/Bryce Nakashima vs. Matisse Farzam/Tiago Pires (Clemson) @ 4:30 PM
- No. 3 Brandon Carpico/Nikita Filin vs. No. 49 Maxwell Exsted/Nathan Trouve (USC) @ 6 PM
- No. 37 Matthew Forbes/Alex Okonkwo vs. No. 8 Luca Pow/Aryan Shah (Wake Forest) @ 6 PM
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