Cowboy Tennis Upsets No. 5 USC in First Top Five Win Since 2020
Facing a top-five opponent offers a challenge that can not be replicated.
Oklahoma State beat No. 5 USC 6-1 at the Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater on Saturday. OSU’s men’s tennis team faced a top-five opponent for the second time and looked better than it did the first time.
That first matchup came in Austin against No. 4 Texas. OSU suffered its first loss in the contest but avoided the same fate against USC (4-1 overall), thanks to the experience of playing an elite team. OSU coach Dustin Taylor talked about things his team learned from that match.
“The Texas match was the big one for us to realize on one end, we’re right there, but on the other end, we gotta improve our doubles if we’re gonna beat a team like that,” Taylor said.
After taking a 3-0 lead in the match, finding the final singles point began to become an issue. Isaac Becroft and Francisco Pini won their first sets, but their opponents, Volodymyr Iakubenko and Niroop Vallabhaneni, forced third sets.
Meanwhile, Garcia lost on Court 2, and Zink faced a significant deficit on Court 1. As Zink made a comeback after trailing 5-0 in the second set, Becroft took control of his match.
Becroft, a senior from New Zealand, dominated his third set to win 7-6, 3-6, 6-0 and secured OSU’s win.
“I sort of pride myself on making the matches as long and as physical as I can,” Becroft said.
Taylor credited Becroft for the success the team has seen throughout the season and against an elite opponent such as USC.
“He’s been an absolute bull so far for us this season,” Taylor said. “He works extremely hard, earns everything he gets. He’s the sparkplug in a lot of ways, and he’s pretty trusty in the big moments.”
The Cowboys (7-2) have struggled with doubles play to begin the season. However, they have notably improved after dominating performances against Saint Louis and Oral Roberts a week ago.
USC took the first set in doubles, but OSU was in control of the other two courts. On Courts 1 and 2, OSU had 5-3 leads and finished both sets for the doubles point.
Zink and Garcia, along with Becroft and Alessio Basile, won those sets, giving the Cowboys momentum going to singles. After struggling in their other matchup with a top-five team, the Cowboys’ doubles performance set them up for success.
“You need every single inch that you can get versus the top teams, and to get a doubles point and only need three singles is huge,” Becroft said. “That’s what we talk about, but it’s about actually actioning it and actually getting that doubles point is huge.”
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.