Ohio State Rolls Past Illinois To Reach NCAA Men’s Tennis Quarterfinals

Ohio State’s men’s tennis team kept its spring tradition of making life difficult for everyone except itself, sweeping Illinois 4-0 in Columbus to reach the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The Buckeyes leaned on a fast doubles start and clean singles work, then moved on with very little drama, which is rare in college tennis and even rarer in May.

Ohio State · NCAA Tournament Round of 16 · 2026 The Buckeyes handled a familiar Big Ten foe and punched their ticket to Athens with another emphatic postseason win.

Player	Set 1	Set 2
Jack Anthrop (OSU)	6	6
Illinois opponent	4	3

A Familiar Rival, A Familiar Result

The Buckeyes and Illini have seen plenty of each other lately, and Ohio State has generally had the better of the matchup. This was the third win over Illinois this season, following a 5-2 result earlier in the year and a tight Big Ten Tournament meeting last week.

That context matters, because rivalries can turn into tightrope acts in May. Instead, Ohio State made this one look more like a well-run clinic with a scoreboard.

OSU’s opening statement came in doubles. Alexander Bernard and Alex Okonkwo set the tone with a 6-2 win on court three, and Brandon Carpico with Nikita Filin backed it up on court one in a tiebreaker, 7-6(4), to secure the point.

That’s the kind of start that makes coaching staffs exhale just a little. In team tennis, the doubles point is often the nearest thing to a cheat code, as long as your players remember to use it.

Singles Closes The Door

Once Ohio State grabbed the lead, the singles courts did the rest of the work. Filin won 6-1, 6-4 on court four, while Bernard completed a 6-2, 6-2 victory on court six to push the Buckeyes closer to the finish line.

Jack Anthrop then clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-3 win, handing Ohio State the sweep and taking the suspense out of the afternoon. When the clincher lands that cleanly, the bench gets to celebrate instead of doing match arithmetic.

The sweep also underlined how balanced this roster has become. Ohio State got production from the top of the lineup, the middle, and the clutch finishing spot, which is exactly what a championship hopeful needs when the bracket gets unforgiving.

Athens Awaits, And So Does The Big Question

Ohio State now advances to the Elite Eight and heads to Athens, Georgia, where it will face the winner of Stanford and No. 6 seed TCU on May 14. Stanford and TCU were scheduled to play Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, and the Buckeyes will be watching closely, probably with a notebook and a pulse that refuses to settle.

There was also the usual reminder that this program has been annoyingly close to the biggest prize without quite getting there. Ohio State has never won the NCAA title, despite reaching the quarterfinals 18 other times since 2004 and finishing runner-up in 2023, 2018, and 2009.

That history gives every postseason run an echo. The Buckeyes are not just chasing one more win, they are chasing the last step that has kept slipping away like a high ball on a windy clay court, except here it’s outdoor hard work and Ohio State’s patience.