Ohio State men’s tennis loses to TCU in NCAA quarterfinal

Another Ohio State men’s tennis season ended in disappointment on Thursday, as the Buckeyes fell to TCU 4-3 in the NCAA quarterfinals.

To be quite honest, this team was too talented for its season to end this early. That has been, unfortunately, a recurring theme for the Buckeyes over the past decade.

I don’t want to highlight individual players who underperformed, but one player put in his worst day of the season. Maybe he was hurt, which would also explain the unconventional doubles lineup.

TCU took the doubles point, winning one set 6-0, while leading in the other two sets. The Buckeyes did put in a good performance in singles, considering how noncompetitive the doubles point was.

On the singles courts, TCU and Ohio State took the first set on three of the courts. So if the Buckeyes would win, they would need at least one comeback. They actually got that from Nikita Filin, whose three-set comeback victory was the brightest point of the day for the Buckeyes. Bryce Nakashima and Preston Stearns each won singles matches in straight sets, finishing off impressive years for the team.

Ultimately, the match came down to Aidan Kim’s third set. Kim went up a set and a break, but he gave up the lead as the finish line approached. An overturned call on break point to open the third set seemed to throw him off a bit, but he fought back. Eventually, Kim played one poor service game late, which was the difference in the match.

Only two seniors are leaving this team, so the Buckeyes should once again start next season as a National Champion favorite. Maybe next year’s tournament will go better than this one.

This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Another Ohio State men’s tennis season ends in disappointing fashion