The men’s tennis team is really kicking it into gear this season. They have played three matches in the ITA kickoff and have won all three. This is an impressive start for the team. If they can keep this up they could end up winning the Big 10 tournament this year. The team is currently ranked number three in the league, but they don’t really have much of a fan base at Ohio State. Most students, if they do decide to watch tennis, watch the pros play because they are the ones that you see on ESPN and making headlines in the news. What the students don’t seem to know though is that the men’s team can be just as interesting and entertaining to watch as the professional teams.
The fan base for the men’s tennis team has increased however over the past few years. The team has been doing well lately and it has caused there to be more of an interest from students and Buckeye fans. The thing is though; the team will probably never receive the following that some schools have because the team is not a hugely popular sport at Ohio State. There are some schools that tennis is the big sport for their school but Ohio State isn’t one of them. They could become one of them though.
The team doesn’t have a big following because no one really knows much about the team. The students don’t know that the team is ranked number three or that they often compete right here on campus. The students don’t know that the tennis players could be people that they sit next to in class. Many students associate varsity athletes at Ohio State as “stars” in some aspects. Most students wouldn’t just walk up to a basketball or football player and start talking to them because they know that they are an athlete. What they don’t understand though, is yes while the athletes are big names at Ohio State, they are students and normal people as well. The tennis player are the same. Students should at least attend one tennis match before the just write the team off as not being worth it to watch just because it’s not as widely recognized a sport. I believe that students would greatly enjoy the tennis matches and find that there is a new sport to watch when basketball and football are done for the season.
