Construction forces OHSAA to move the boys state tennis tournament from Mason this spring

At least for one year, the boys state tennis tournament is going back to Columbus.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association confirmed Friday that the tournament will be held May 25 and 26 at Ohio State because of construction at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.

An official announcement will be made Monday, according to OHSAA director of communications Tim Stried. The move was first reported on Twitter by OhioTennisZone.com.

The 16-court Lindner facility, located about 20 miles northeast of Cincinnati off Interstate 71, has been the site of the girls state tournament since 2015 and the boys since 2016. It also has been the home of the Western & Southern Open each August since 1979.

Typically, Cincinnati tennis players do well in the near-home tournament. Last year, then-senior Vignesh Gogineni of Mason was the Division I state tennis champion, while then-senior teammates Anish Gangavaram and Akshay Joshi won the state Division I doubles championship. In Division II, then sophomore R.J. Poffenberger and senior Tejas Pisati of Indian Hill won the doubles championship.

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Ohio State has 10 outdoor courts along Olentangy River Road, just north of Value City Arena, and six indoor at the adjacent Ty Tucker Tennis Center, which opened in fall 2020.

The site change also led to the tournament being moved up one day. The boys tournament originally was scheduled for May 26 and 27, the Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

The girls tournament is projected to stay in Mason in the fall.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: OHSAA boys state tennis tournament leaving Mason in 2023