Ohio State University Team Page
COLUMBUS, Ohio– Ohio State men’s tennis student-athletes Peter Kobelt and Blaz Rola advanced to the NCAA Singles Championship Round of 16 Thursday following their second-round wins at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex/Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill.
Kobelt, the No. 7 seed and the Big Ten Conference’s automatic qualifier, and Rola will continue action in the singles bracket Friday. Kobelt will face Pepperdine’s Sebastian Fanselow next. Rola and Tsvetan Mihov from South Carolina will matchup in the round of 16. For updated singles and doubles brackets, including updated start times, log on to the official NCAA Tournament Central page.
Kobelt began his second-round match vs. UCLA’s Dennis Novikov outdoors, but rain forced play indoors in the first set. The Buckeye junior from New Albany, Ohio, would go on to drop the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (1), before rallying for a second-set tiebreaker win, 7-6(5). In the third and deciding set, Kobelt cruised to a 6-1 victory. With a 36-8 overall record, Kobelt has tied teammate Connor Smith for the team lead in singles wins.
A native of Slovenia, Rola played his entire match vs. Malte Stropp of Mississippi State indoors. For the second-consecutive match, Rola, won in straight sets, beating Stropp, 6-1, 6-4. With the victory, Rola improves to 28-1 overall.
Kobelt and Smith, ranked 12th in the ITA polls, lost in the opening round of the 32-doubles field Thursday afternoon. The Buckeye pair faced No. 2 seed Henrique Cunha and Raphael Hemmeler of Duke and dropped a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 decision.
2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Singles Championship
May 23, 2013
Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex/Atkins Tennis Center
Urbana, Ill.
Singles
Peter Kobelt
First Round – No. 7 Peter Kobelt def. Fred Saba (Duke), 6-3, 6-2
Second Round – No. 7 Peter Kobelt def. Dennis Novikov (UCLA), 6-7(1), 7-6(5), 6-1
Blaz Rola
First Round – Blaz Rola def. Ben McLachlan (California), 6-2, 7-6(4)
Second Round – Blaz Rola def. Malte Stropp (Mississippi State), 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
First Round – No. 2 Henrique Cunha/Raphael Hemmeler def. Peter Kobelt/Connor Smith, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
