Michigan State University
No. 27 Cornell
MSU Men’s Tennis Set to Showcase Skills in East Coast Clash With Cornell
2/22/2025 11:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Spartans Aim to Extend Spring Start Against Tough Competition on the Road
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men's tennis hits the road to Ithaca, N.Y., to take on Cornell on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 11 a.m. ET in another road trip of the spring season.
MSU is returning to action after a short weekend off for ITA Indoor National Championships.
The latest ITA rankings dropped just before Michigan State headed to Cornell for their upcoming match, providing added motivation for the players to prove themselves on the court.
In the team rankings, MSU slipped from No. 22 to No. 33, while in the individual rankings, junior Ozan Baris moved up two spots from No. 8 to No. 6.
Redshirt sophomore Aristotelis Thanos checked in at No. 27. Forbes is currently ranked No. 60 in the ITA Rankings, while senior Max Sheldon holds the No. 74 spot.
Baris and Thanos are the only doubles duo in this week's rankings at No. 52.
In its last outing, Michigan State traveled to Idaho to take on Boise State, with the Spartans falling 4-3 in a tough battle with the Broncos.
The Spartans switched up their doubles pairings with sophomore Taym Alazmeh/freshman Danial Rakhmatullayev at the No. 1 spot, with the brother duo senior Max Sheldon/freshman Mitchell Sheldon at number two and freshman Matthew Forbes/Vuk Radjenovic in the final spot for the Spartans doubles pairings. In a decisive doubles point, the team grabbed the points with Alazmeh/Rakhmatullayev defeating Middleton/Baker, 7-6 (7-4).
No. 61 Ma. Sheldon secured a victory at No. 1 singles over Jett Middleton (BSU) with a straight-set win, finishing 7-5, 6-3.
At the No. 5 singles spot, Rakhmatullayev battled back after a tough first-set tiebreak loss to defeat John Chin (BSU), 6-7 (8-10), 6-2, 6-2.
Before the Boise State match, Forbes made history for Michigan State, becoming the program's first-ever recipient of the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award after an outstanding performance in singles and doubles play.
Cornell has started out the season going 7-3 with a four-game win streak. Cornell men's tennis earned third place at the ECAC Indoor Championships on Sunday after defeating Penn, 4-1, in the third-place championship match.
The Spartans have started the spring season with a record of 4-4, including a massive win against No. 7 Kentucky during the opening weekend.
This weekend is the final match of a road-trip filled February for the Spartans. Michigan State is back home on March 7 to take on Washington at 5 p.m. EST in the Big Ten Conference opener.
Players Mentioned
