Cowboy Tennis Back Home for Top-10 Matchup Against Baylor

Thursday, March 26

Stillwater, Okla.

5 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

No. 8 Baylor

Cowboy Tennis Back Home for Top-10 Matchup Against Baylor

March 24, 2026 | Cowboy Tennis

Match Notes

Oklahoma State Cowboys
(14-6, 1-2 Big 12) | Head Coach: Dustin Taylor (Fifth Season)
vs.
No. 8 Baylor Bears | 5 p.m. CT
(13-7, 1-1 Big 12) | Head Coach: Michael Woodson (Fifth Season)

Match 21 | No. 8 Baylor | March 26, 2026
Venue: Greenwood Tennis Center
Direct Stream: https://okla.st/WatchvsBaylor
ESPN+ Stream: https://okla.st/ESPNvsBaylor
Stats: https://okla.st/StatsvsBaylor

Social Media: @CowboyTennis

The Basics
The Oklahoma State men's tennis team is back at the Greenwood Tennis Center for their Big 12 home opener against No. 8 Baylor (13-7, 1-1). The match will be streamed on ESPN+ as a part of the Big 12 Crosscourt stream. The Cowboys match against the Bears will take place on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. CT. Oklahoma State's last home match was an impressive win over Penn on March 10; a win that improved its record to 11-0 at the Greenwood Tennis Center, the best start in the history of the GTC. The Pokes are 1-2 to begin conference play, taking a thriller at Utah, 4-3, with the help of a Derek Pham clincher.

Gokpinar Magic
Freshman Haydar Gokpinar has shined to start his Cowboy career. Gokpinar is 14-2 and sealed the match against Arkansas with a comeback win over Eric Padgham, 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-1. The Turkish native started his career with 10 straight wins, the most by a Cowboy to start his career since Lucas Gerch in 2014. Gokpinar leads OSU with his 14 wins and has only dropped five total sets this season, primarily anchoring the lineup on court six.

Oklahoma's Own
Oklahoma native Ian Bracks has made a name for himself to start his sophomore season. Heading into conference play, Bracks has a 12-3 record and has netted a near-perfect 6-1 record from the four spot in the lineup. Bracks has been diverse in his work, picking up wins on every court except six and only having his two losses on court three.

In The Rankings
The Oklahoma State men's tennis team ranked 39^th in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I rankings. The Pokes sit as the sixth-highest ranked team in the stacked Big 12, behind TCU (5), Baylor (8), Arizona (9), UCF (12) and Arizona State (26). The pairing of Haydar Gokpinar and Nicolas Kobelt came in at No. 81 in the double's rankings via March 17.

Series History
Oklahoma State and Baylor will do battle for the 44^th time on Thursday night. Baylor holds a 33-10 advantage over OSU. The last OSU win came in 4-2 fashion in Stillwater during the 2024 campaign. That win came against 31^st-ranked Baylor. The last time OSU beat a top 10 Baylor squad was in 2017, where they defeated No. 3 Baylor, 4-3, in Waco.

Streaks & Trends
·      OSU is 11-0 at the Greenwood Tennis Center
·      Haydar Gokpinar is 14-2 in singles this season
·      Ian Bracks has wins on every court except six
·      Ian Bracks is 6-1 on court four
·      Alessio Basile is 2-0 in Big 12 singles
·      OSU currently has 90 total team points through 20 matches
·      Most team points in the Dustin Taylor era through 20 matches

An Oklahoma State Win Would…