Ohio State alums JJ Tracy (right) and Robert Cash (left) are set to take on Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos on Thursday at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.
Credit: Casey Smith | Lantern File
Former Buckeye national champions JJ Tracy and Robert Cash are set to face Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos on Thursday evening in hopes of advancing to the finals of the 2025 U.S. Open in Queens, New York.
The pair defeated Argentines Máximo González and Andrés Molteni in a straight-set victory, 6-3, 6-3, on Tuesday, and continued their streak Wednesday night, defeating two Frenchmen, Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul, 6-1, 7-6, in Stadium 17 of the Open.
“In both matches, we just tried to keep things simple,” Tracy said. “Stay in the moment, play with your heart on your sleeve, and that’ll take you as far as you want to go.”
Cash and Tracy are currently ranked No. 16 in the Association of Tennis Professionals doubles rankings, with this advance marking the first time a pair of Buckeye alums has reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam event in their professional careers.
“I think winning these next two matches here, starting tonight, would be a great step in making that legacy after college,” Tracy said. “The dream is obviously the Grand Slam, and we’re close here, so we have to focus in for two more days.”
At Ohio State, Tracy and Cash won the NCAA doubles title in May 2024 to cap their undefeated senior season as the No. 1-ranked team in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. As the two moved to the pros, they have replicated that success.
“I think those dual matches at Ohio State, like the matches against Michigan, Illinois and those highly contested matches where they packed the good ol’ Ty Tucker Tennis Center, prepared us perfectly for matches like this,” Tracy said.
Tracy remains the youngest ranked doubles player in the top 75 at No. 57, and Cash has also climbed to a career-high ranking of No. 72.
As they head into the semifinals, Tracy and Cash are prepared to be challenged by their opponents, Granollers and Zeballos, who are currently ranked No. 2 in the ATP rankings. The pair recently won the French Open and reached the Wimbledon semifinals this summer.
But for Cash and Tracy, this match is just another match to them — nothing more, nothing less.
“It’s really no different than any other match we’ve played,” Cash said. “We’ve come in every match as the underdogs, but we know we can play with anyone in the world. We’ve proven it time and time again, and we’ve proven it to ourselves. We have that confidence in ourselves that we can compete with everybody here, and if we play our game, we can beat anyone.”
The two doubles teams will meet at 5:10 p.m. at Louis Armstrong Stadium in an attempt to become finalists. Cash and Tracy are the last Americans in the doubles draw.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Cash said. “It’s like a childhood dream being here competing with the best players in the world. But we like to say, ‘The job’s not finished,’ so we’re proud, but not satisfied. We’re going to go out and get after it later today.”
