Photo by: Matthew Mitchell/MSU Athletic Communications
Forbes Forging Own Path To Success As A Spartan En Route To NCAA Individual Championships
11/14/2025 1:31:00 PM | Men's Tennis
MSU men’s tennis star sophomore headed to first NCAA Championships next week.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State men's tennis star sophomore Matthew Forbes grew up in a tennis family, starting to play around age three. His older sister, Abigail, was a junior tennis star, and he seemed poised to follow in her footsteps.
But instead of staying home in Raleigh and playing for North Carolina, Forbes forged his own path to Michigan State.
Forbes, now a sophomore, has thrived in East Lansing and is happy he chose to follow his instincts. He is majoring in human biology and thriving this season with a terrific second season as a Spartan.
He has shown his talent throughout his fall competition, including punching his ticket to next week's NCAA Individual Championships following a standout performances at the ITA All-American Championship tournament held earlier this year in September, and will be joining senior teammate Ozan Baris at the NCAAs. Forbes also earned a spot on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10.
Forbes' freshman season was filled with lots of highs, including a 20-12 singles record while playing mostly at number four, and posting a 15-11 doubles record playing mostly at number one. Forbes has continued this level of play into his sophomore year by advancing to the quarterfinals of the ITA National Tournament where he lost a tough match to David Badenhorst of Baylor.
Forbes was making history for the Spartans before he even arrived at MSU. He was the first tennis player in MSU history to qualify for the U.S. Open last year. Coming to MSU after playing in the Grand Slam also put a lot of pressure on Forbes. It added a target to Forbes' back while playing collegiate tennis, becoming the hunted instead of the hunter.
Even though playing in the U.S. Open is a big deal, there's still skills to be able to improve upon. MSU's coaches have provided the right resources for Forbes to improve his game such as athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches to help Forbes stay healthy and take care of his body to get stronger.
"There's so many resources that Michigan State has at their disposal that have helped me so much, especially last year and this year even," Forbes said. "Last year I could have done a lot better job utilizing these resources, and I think this year I've done a lot better with that."
MSU men's tennis head coach Harry Jadun is in his fourth season and has brought the Spartans' tennis program to the forefront of the Big Ten. Jadun was hired on June 13, 2022, right around the time Forbes de-committed from North Carolina. Jadun said that Forbes liked that the program was promising with young players and coaches.
Jadun organized the inaugural Capital City Tennis Classic in 2019 and has maintained a culture of both athletic and academic success. The men's tennis program has been named ITA All-Academic team every year Jadun has been on staff. And when it comes to an uber talented player like Forbes, Jadun and the other coaches treat him like everyone else to keep him grounded and help his improvement.
"We just coach him like any other player, coach him like he needs to get better because he does," Jadun said. "Just having that chip on his shoulder and wanting to get better every single day is something that he's done a great job at and every time we challenge him he steps up and comes back better the next day. Just keeping him to the same standard we keep everybody else, obviously he's super talented.
"He's got to come to work with a hard hat each day."
The program is already in a great place for player development by having a coach who played collegiate tennis and an assistant coach, Mike Flowers, who has been a USTA High Performance Coach working with some of the best junior players in the world including MSU's own Ozan Baris. It has been paying off for Forbes. However, Jadun credits the teammates around Forbes for helping him improve on the court.
"I think they (the team) push him," Jadun said. "Obviously we have high level players left and right on this team, we've got a great program and I think that training and that standard has really, really helped him and it's been great."
One of those high level players that Forbes credits for his improvement at MSU is Baris, who was the preseason ITA ranked No. 1 tennis player in the 2024-25 season, a first in Spartans history. Baris is also MSU's only multiple All-American recipient, receiving three of the seven total that come from MSU, and will be making his third-straight NCAA Championships appearance.
Forbes came to Michigan State at the age of 18 to play tennis, and still had immature tendencies as a young, talented player. He would take his anger out on the court after a loss, and Baris helped guide him through the rough patches.
"When I first came in, I was really immature, especially at times I was pretty hard to deal with and he (Baris) pulled me to the side a few times and was like, 'Hey what are you doing? You can't be doing this,'" Forbes said. "He kind of just showed me the ways of college tennis, so he's helped me a lot. He was part of the reason why I committed here as well, he's been there, done that, he's proven. So that obviously helps as well.
"If you don't get better training with Ozan everyday then you're doing something wrong."
Forbes and Baris will be in action at the NCAA Individual Championships held Nov. 18–23 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The tournament will be hosted by the University of Central Florida and the USTA.
Fans can follow Spartan action in Orlando via live links available at MSUSpartans.com, or by following the men's tennis team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by following @MSU_MTennis.
But instead of staying home in Raleigh and playing for North Carolina, Forbes forged his own path to Michigan State.
Forbes, now a sophomore, has thrived in East Lansing and is happy he chose to follow his instincts. He is majoring in human biology and thriving this season with a terrific second season as a Spartan.
He has shown his talent throughout his fall competition, including punching his ticket to next week's NCAA Individual Championships following a standout performances at the ITA All-American Championship tournament held earlier this year in September, and will be joining senior teammate Ozan Baris at the NCAAs. Forbes also earned a spot on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10.
Forbes' freshman season was filled with lots of highs, including a 20-12 singles record while playing mostly at number four, and posting a 15-11 doubles record playing mostly at number one. Forbes has continued this level of play into his sophomore year by advancing to the quarterfinals of the ITA National Tournament where he lost a tough match to David Badenhorst of Baylor.
Forbes was making history for the Spartans before he even arrived at MSU. He was the first tennis player in MSU history to qualify for the U.S. Open last year. Coming to MSU after playing in the Grand Slam also put a lot of pressure on Forbes. It added a target to Forbes' back while playing collegiate tennis, becoming the hunted instead of the hunter.
Even though playing in the U.S. Open is a big deal, there's still skills to be able to improve upon. MSU's coaches have provided the right resources for Forbes to improve his game such as athletic trainers and strength and conditioning coaches to help Forbes stay healthy and take care of his body to get stronger.
"There's so many resources that Michigan State has at their disposal that have helped me so much, especially last year and this year even," Forbes said. "Last year I could have done a lot better job utilizing these resources, and I think this year I've done a lot better with that."
MSU men's tennis head coach Harry Jadun is in his fourth season and has brought the Spartans' tennis program to the forefront of the Big Ten. Jadun was hired on June 13, 2022, right around the time Forbes de-committed from North Carolina. Jadun said that Forbes liked that the program was promising with young players and coaches.
Jadun organized the inaugural Capital City Tennis Classic in 2019 and has maintained a culture of both athletic and academic success. The men's tennis program has been named ITA All-Academic team every year Jadun has been on staff. And when it comes to an uber talented player like Forbes, Jadun and the other coaches treat him like everyone else to keep him grounded and help his improvement.
"We just coach him like any other player, coach him like he needs to get better because he does," Jadun said. "Just having that chip on his shoulder and wanting to get better every single day is something that he's done a great job at and every time we challenge him he steps up and comes back better the next day. Just keeping him to the same standard we keep everybody else, obviously he's super talented.
"He's got to come to work with a hard hat each day."
The program is already in a great place for player development by having a coach who played collegiate tennis and an assistant coach, Mike Flowers, who has been a USTA High Performance Coach working with some of the best junior players in the world including MSU's own Ozan Baris. It has been paying off for Forbes. However, Jadun credits the teammates around Forbes for helping him improve on the court.
"I think they (the team) push him," Jadun said. "Obviously we have high level players left and right on this team, we've got a great program and I think that training and that standard has really, really helped him and it's been great."
One of those high level players that Forbes credits for his improvement at MSU is Baris, who was the preseason ITA ranked No. 1 tennis player in the 2024-25 season, a first in Spartans history. Baris is also MSU's only multiple All-American recipient, receiving three of the seven total that come from MSU, and will be making his third-straight NCAA Championships appearance.
Forbes came to Michigan State at the age of 18 to play tennis, and still had immature tendencies as a young, talented player. He would take his anger out on the court after a loss, and Baris helped guide him through the rough patches.
"When I first came in, I was really immature, especially at times I was pretty hard to deal with and he (Baris) pulled me to the side a few times and was like, 'Hey what are you doing? You can't be doing this,'" Forbes said. "He kind of just showed me the ways of college tennis, so he's helped me a lot. He was part of the reason why I committed here as well, he's been there, done that, he's proven. So that obviously helps as well.
"If you don't get better training with Ozan everyday then you're doing something wrong."
Forbes and Baris will be in action at the NCAA Individual Championships held Nov. 18–23 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The tournament will be hosted by the University of Central Florida and the USTA.
Fans can follow Spartan action in Orlando via live links available at MSUSpartans.com, or by following the men's tennis team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by following @MSU_MTennis.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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