Eric Boggs
For the second year in a row, an Ohio State duo has won the NCAA Doubles Championship. JJ Tracy and Robert Cash clinched the title on Saturday in a three-set match, becoming the third pair from Ohio State to achieve this feat.
The Buckeyes defeated Florida State’s Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc and Joshua Dous Karpenschif with scores of 5-7, 6-0, and 10-6.
This marks the third straight NCAA doubles championship appearance for an Ohio State team. In 2022, Cash and Matej Vocel lost in a super tiebreaker, while Andrew Lutschaunig and James Trotter won the title last year in Orlando.
Overall, this is Ohio State’s sixth NCAA doubles final appearance. Chase Buchanan and Blaz Rola won the first title for the program in 2012, while Peter Kobelt and Kevin Metka finished as runners-up in 2014. Mikael Torpegaard and Martin Joyce were runners-up in 2018.
In the first set on Saturday, neither team managed a break until Cornut-Chauvinc and Dous Karpenschif broke at the end to win 7-5. The Buckeyes responded strongly in the second set, breaking FSU twice early and racing to a 4-0 lead before winning the set 6-0.
In the super tiebreaker, the Buckeyes won both points on FSU’s first serve and took an early 4-1 lead. They maintained their lead, not giving FSU a chance to come back. The championship point was fittingly won with a volley at the net by Cash, who is considered one of the best doubles players in the program’s history.
Cash and Tracy had a strong start to the tournament. They defeated SMU’s Huntley Allen and Adam Neff 6-4, 6-2 in the first round on Tuesday and then dominated Auburn’s duo of Raul Dobai and Finn Murgett 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday.
In Thursday’s quarterfinals, they won against Arkansas’ Bozo Barun and Jared Horwood, taking the first set 6-3 and the second set 6-1. Friday’s semifinal match against Louisville’s Natan Rodrigues and Etienne Donnet was tougher. Cash and Tracy won the first set 6-2, lost the second 6-4, but won the super tiebreaker 12-10.
Both Cash and Tracy finished their careers on a high note. Cash set a new record for the most doubles wins in program history with 148, surpassing the previous record of 139. He finished the season with a 35-7 doubles record and a 25-4 singles record, making him one of the top 10 players in program history with 228 career wins.
Tracy also had an impressive final season with a combined 77-12 record. He earned singles All-America honors for the second time in his career, reaching the quarterfinals. Tracy, from Powell, Ohio, finishes with 235 career victories, the fifth-most in program history.
