Michigan State University
Vanderbilt
No. 23 Spartan Men’s Tennis Beats Vanderbilt and Western Michigan in a 3-0 Home Opener Weekend
1/19/2025 10:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
MSU completes 3-0 shutout during the home opener this weekend.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- After a historic win on Friday night against No. Kentucky, No. 23 Michigan State men's tennis was ready to finish out its opening weekend with a doubleheader against Vanderbilt and Western Michigan.
Action started early Sunday morning, where the Spartans were set to take on Vanderbilt in an 11 a.m. start. In the doubles lineup, three familiar pairs were matched up together, junior Ozan Baris and freshman Vuk Radjenovic, senior Max Sheldon and freshman Matthew Forbes, and sophomore Taym Alazmeh and Danial Rakhmatullayev.
The Spartans had a slow start in doubles with Henry Ruger/Hugo Coquelin from Vanderbilt, getting the jump on Baris/Radjenovic, 6-3. Henry Ruger/Hugo Coquelin of Vanderbilt made quick work of Alazmeh/Rakhmatullayev, beating the pair, 6-1.
With the doubles point going to Vanderbilt, the remaining match (No. 107 Matthew Forbes/Max Sheldon vs Panarin/Martinez-Gomez from Vanderbilt) went unfinished 2-3.
Starting out down one point, the Spartans set off on their singles matches looking for the comeback and they had a frenzied recovery.
The second point came quickly for the Spartans when Forbes' match ended in a win by forfeit (injury) so the two teams were tied up. Alazmeh was the second Spartans to earn a point for the team. He took down Pablo Martinez-Gomez (VAN) quickly in the first set, but fought harder in the second, winning 6-0, 7-6 (7-5). Another back-and-forth match was between Danial Rakhmatullayev and Henry Ruger of Vanderbilt. Rakhmatullayev took down Ruger, 6-3, 7-5. On court 6, sophomore Aristotlelis Thanos worked hard to defeat Danil Panarin from Vanderbilt, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.
With the match won by the Spartans, the remaining matches would be played out.
Baris took his time playing the long game to defeat Nathan Cox of Vanderbilt 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. The last match of the day was finished by Michael Ross of Vanderbilt defeating Radjenovic 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3.
The Spartans were set to take a small break and continue the double header against Western Michigan.
The match against Western Michigan brought a strong connection for two players. Brothers, Max and freshman Mitchell Sheldon were set to be double partners for the first time in their collegiate careers.
"That's a relief, because they ask me about it every day in practice, 'Hey, can we play doubles together", but it's super special. I didn't even think about the fact that they were playing next to each other in singles, but playing doubles with each other, that's a special moment for that family, MSU Head Coach Harry Jadun said. "Having both brothers come through here, and a special moment for them, for them to pick up wins against Western Michigan. Mitchell especially, he grew up with the kid he played against, that kid was a Midwest kid as well, so a good win for Mitchell in a great start to his career, he came out hot."
The Sheldon duo ended up having to be the tiebreaker score between Baris/Thanos' 6-2 win and Forbes/Alazmeh's 2-6 loss.
"I felt like it was just a lot of fun, like I've never played a dual match, obviously the first one, so I was just super excited to go out there and play," freshman Mitchell Sheldon said. "Then also obviously playing with your brother makes it a lot more fun, and in front of family, friends, and the entire crowd. It was a great time, I think we played pretty well overall and may have had to put the team on my back a little bit, but overall, it was super fun."
"Just to be able to have his first dual match be with me, I wanted to relieve the pressure a little bit, just have him be very relaxed, joke around in between points and just make sure that he's enjoying it, " said senior Max Sheldon. "Like he said, he carried me badly today, but he stepped up and showed us what he can do, so I'm just excited."
The pair went on to win their doubles match, 6-4, and helped the Spartans earn the doubles point.
With good momentum and the first point under the Spartans' belt, the team went on to their singles matches. Forbes and Mi. Sheldon were the first two done with their matches, with Forbes winning 6-2, 6-2 and Mi. Sheldon won 6-0, 6-0.
Next to complete their match was senior Josh Portnoy where he defeated Matej Kajzer from Western Michigan 6-2, 6-2. After fighting back from being down, David Saye (MSU) defeated Jack Davidson from Western Michigan 6-3, 6-3.
With the points in favor of the Spartans, the remaining matches were played out to completion.
Using the energy from the team and the win, Ma. Sheldon took down Anton Arzhankin of Western Michigan 6-2, 6-3.
The last match of the night was in favor of the Broncos. Tough fighting from both teams led to Ashton Adesoro (WMU) def. Vuk Radjenovic (MSU) 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 10-2.
Up next, the Spartans hit the road for the first time during dual match play, heading to Fort Worth, Texas next weekend for the ITA Kickoff Weekend, hosted by TCU. The Spartans will take on Liberty on Saturday, Jan. 25 in an 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT start time, and then face either No. 2 TCU or Pacific on Sunday, Jan. 26.
Results:
No. 23 Michigan State (1-0) 5, Vanderbilt (2-0) 2
Doubles
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Nathan Cox/Michael Ross (VAND) def. Ozan Baris/Vuk Radjenovic (MSU) 6-3
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No. 107 Matthew Forbes/Max Sheldon (MSU) vs Danil Panarin/ Pablo Martinez-Gomez (VAND) unfinished, (2-3)
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Henry Ruger/Hugo Coquelin (VAND) def. No. 66 Taym Alazmeh/Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) 6-1
Singles
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No. 8 Ozan Baris (MSU) def. Nathan Cox (VAND) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
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No. 27 Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. Danil Panarin (VAND) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
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Michael Ross (VAND) def. Vuk Radjenovic (MSU) 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 6-3
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No. 40 Matthew Forbes (MSU) def. Hugo Coquelin (VAND) 4-3 (forfeit, injury)
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Taym Al-Azmeh (MSU) def. Pablo Martinez-Gomez (VAND) 6-0, 7-6 (7-5)
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Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) def. Henry Ruger (VAND) 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1); Singles (4, 5, 6, 2, 1, 3)
Results:
No. 23 Michigan State (2-0) 6, Western Michigan (3-1) 1
Doubles
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No. 94 Ozan Baris/Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. No. 109 Jack Davidson/Brogan Pierce (WMU) 6-2
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Anton Arzhankin/Alex Antonopoulus (WMU) def. Matthew Forbes/Taym Alazmeh (MSU) 6-2
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Max Sheldon/Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) def. Oscar Corwin/Ashton Adesoro (WMU) 6-4
Singles
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No. 83 Max Sheldon (MSU) def. Anton Arzhankin (WMU) 6-2, 6-3
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Ashton Adesoro (WMU) def. Vuk Radjenovic (MSU) 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 10-2
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No. 40 Matthew Forbes def. Brogan Pierce (WMU) 6-2, 6-2
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David Saye (MSU) def. Jack Davidson (WMU) 6-3, 6-3
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Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) def. Oscar Corwin (WMU) 6-0, 6-3
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Josh Portnoy (MSU) def. Matej Kajzer (WMU) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2); Singles (3, 5, 6, 4, 1, 2)
Players Mentioned
