No. 16 Men's Tennis Concludes Home Stand Friday

EAST LANSING, Mich. – 16^th ranked Men's Tennis will play conclude it's five game home stretch Friday, taking on Clemson at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center at 6 p.m..

The Spartans enter the contest 8-0 on the season after sweeping two double headers last weekend with quality opponents such as Middle Tennessee State and Boise State. MSU will look to equal the best start to a season in 63 years, a 9-0 start accomplished in the 2011 season.

Rejoining the squad is freshman Aristotelis Thanos was in his hometown Athens, Greece, over the weekend representing his native nation alongside the likes of World No. 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas. On Saturday, Thanos defeated the world No. 265 singles player, Nicholas David Ionel, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, helping the Greeks to the next round.

Scouting Clemson
The Tigers enter the matchup 2-2, dropping their last two matches at the ITA Kickoff Weekend Columbia, S.C. Regional, swept by Louisville and 4-2 at the hands of No. 2 South Carolina. A common opponent for Clemson and MSU this season is Brown who the Spartans swept 7-0 on Jan. 19 while the Tigers trumped the Bears 6-1 on Jan. 13.

Freshman Noa Vukadin is the lone ranked Tiger in singles, slotted at No. 111 in the ITA's most recent rankings update on Wednesday, Feb. 7. In doubles, Vukadin teams up with junior Maxwell Smith to make the No. 33 duo nationally. Senior Ryuhei Azuma finished the 2023 season inside the ITA Single top 100 and has a team-best 6.4 WTN.

Series History vs. Clemson
This is the first meeting between the two sides in East Lansing while Clemson holds a 4-0 all-time record over Michigan State. The last meeting was a 4-3 home win for Clemson on Jan. 29, 2017.

Nation's Top Doubles Team among Historic Rankings Update for Spartans
On Wednesday, MSU Men's Tennis received several program-best classifications in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's updated rankings, led by junior Max Sheldon and sophomore Ozan Baris' jump to No. 1 doubles team in the nation.

In the team poll, the undefeated Spartans jumped to No. 16, the fifth straight week the team has improved to a program-high mark since cracking the top 25 in the coaches poll for the first time during the preseason.

Sheldon and Baris' status as the chief pairing in the country is the first time any Spartan tennis student-athletes have topped the rankings list.

In singles, Baris remained the program's highest seeded individual at No. 6, while graduate student Ronald Hohmann III was bumped up a spot to a career-best No. 11 in the nation. MSU is one of two teams with multiple top-11 ranked players. Both Baris and Hohmann already own multiple ranked wins to their names this spring.

Also improving to a career-best rating was senior Graydon Lair at No. 112, 3-0 in singles play on the young season, up from his debut rating of 116.

Still Perfect
Three Spartans remain undefeated in singles play and of the eleven doubles teams that have notched wins, six are also yet to drop a set.

No. 97 ranked junior Max Sheldon leads the way for the deep MSU lineup, 6-0 in singles and 4-0 in doubles so far. Baris sits at 4-0, including two ranked wins, and Lair is undefeated in three matches.

Fall Competition Accolades

20 total ranked wins
7 wins over top-25 opponents
15 ranked singles wins between 4 players
3 Doubles Titles
ITA Fall National Championships Doubles Title (Sheldon/Baris, Nov. 5)
Milwaukee Tennis Classic Doubles Title (Sheldon/Collard, Sep. 24)
Gamecock Ranked Invite Doubles Title (Baris/Hohmann, Sep. 17)
Battle in the Bay Singles Title & Runner-Up (Baris & Hohmann, Sep. 24)
ITA All-American Championships Singles Semifinalist (Baris, Oct. 7)

Beginning the Season with Historic Rankings
Entering the season, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association slotted MSU as the No. 24 team in the nation in the preseason rankings, the first time in program history the Spartans have been named inside the top 25 since the ITA began compiling rankings in 1981.

Not only was the No. 25 team ranking a program-best but a national-high eight Spartans were ranked in the ITA's singles and doubles fall player rankings. The four ranked doubles teams was also tied for the most in the country from one program.

Spartans in ITA DI Men's Tennis Rankings
Singles