Michigan State University
No. 49 Washington
MSU Men’s Tennis Back Home for Their Big Ten Conference Opener
3/5/2025 5:09:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Spartans face league newcomers Washington and Oregon in first B1G battles.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men's tennis is back home for their Big Ten Conference opening weekend, hosting Oregon on Friday, March 7 at 5 p.m. and Washington on Sunday, March 9 at 10 a.m. at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.
This weekend marks MSU's first home action since Jan. 19, as the Spartans were on the road for their last six matches
Before conference play gets underway, the ITA dropped their weekly team, individual and doubles rankings. After falling to No. 27 Cornell last weekend, No. 43 Michigan State found itself dropping to No. 47 as a team.
The Spartans had four individuals in the singles rankings and one double pairing this week.
Junior Ozan Baris continues to climb the charts as he broke into the top 5, landing himself at No. 4 in this week's rankings. Redshirt-sophomore Aristotelis Thanos earned his spot at No. 21, after his long standing place at No. 27.
Freshman Matthew Forbes moved from No. 60 to No. 63, while senior Max Sheldon holds the final spot for the Spartans at No. 78.
In doubles, the pair of Baris and Thanos is ranked at No. 53.
Spartans Last Outing
MSU headed to Ithaca, N.Y to take on No. 27 Cornell in their final Two familiar pairings hit the courts for the Spartans with sophomore Taym Alazmeh/freshman Danial Rahmatuallyev at the number one doubles spot and the Sheldon brother duo, Max and freshman Mitchell Sheldon, at spot number three. Thanos/Forbes were the newest pairing for the Spartans at number two doubles.
Alazmeh/Rakhmatullayev took on Kholsa/Verdes from Cornell. The duo fought hard but fell, 6-2. Thanos/Forbes went up against Papoe/Sinha from Cornell but ultimately lost. The Sheldon pairing had a tough back-and-forth match, but went unfinished with the double point in favor of Cornell.
With singles matches starting, the Spartans knew that they had to fight back to earn the team win.
Alazmeh fell to Fernandes, 4-6, 3-6. At the No. 1 spot, Thanos took on Radu Papoe of Cornell. Thanos made quick work of Papoe, 6-3, 6-4, earning the Spartans their first point of the match.
Senior Max Sheldon tied up the score for the Spartans with his tough victory against Adit Sinha.
With the score tied up 2-2, Rakhmatullayev continued his match trying to earn another point for the Spartans. Rakhmatullayev fell to Nathan Mao.
The final duos, Radjenovic and Forbes, fought back and forth, but Cornell earned the point and the match victory with a win against Forbes, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
Scouting Washington
No. 49 Washington starts its season going 8-2 after finishing fourth at Diablos College Invitational last weekend.
The Huskies have two ranked singles and one doubles pairings in this week's ITA ranking. Senior Cesar Bouchelaghem is ranked No. 68 and senior Dzianis Zharyn caps off the top 100 at No. 98. Doubles duo Bouchelaghem/Zharyn are ranked at No. 55.
Scouting Oregon
No. 54 Oregon is looking to open up their Big Ten Conference season taking on both Michigan and Michigan State this weekend. The Ducks go up against No. 19 Michigan on Friday at 5 pm, then they will travel to East Lansing to take on the Spartans on Sunday at 10 am.
The Ducks have one ranked single individual in this week's rankings, sophomore Lenn Luemkemann finds his spot at No. 116.
UP NEXT:
The Spartans continue their home stretch as they take on No. 8 Arizona in a non-conference match next Wednesday, March 12 at 5 pm, before heading on a Big Ten road trip to go up against Wisconsin and Nebraska next weekend.
Players Mentioned
