MSU Men’s Tennis Wraps Up Diablos Invite with Key Wins Over Boise State and Washington

Friday, February 27

Tempe, Ariz.

12 PM

Michigan State University

No. 29 Arizona

Photo by: Vanderbilt Athletics

MSU Men’s Tennis Wraps Up Diablos Invite with Key Wins Over Boise State and Washington

3/1/2026 2:14:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Key Singles and Doubles Performances Lead Spartans to Two Big Wins

Michigan State men's tennis wrapped up a successful weekend at the Diablos Invite in Tempe, Arizona, on Friday and Saturday, bouncing back from a first-round defeat with back-to-back 4-0 sweeps over ranked opponents. MSU lost to No. 29 Arizona on Friday afternoon, but rallied with sweeps over No. 68 Boise State and No. 64 Washington.

Day One:
Michigan State first took the court against the No. 29 Arizona Wildcats on Friday afternoon. The Spartans struck first, claiming the doubles to get the early 1-0 lead. The Spartan duo of junior Taym Alazmeh and sophomore Danial Rakhmatullayev secured their win 6-4, while redshirt-senior Aristotelis Thanos and sophomore Mitchell Sheldon followed suit with a 6-3 win.

In singles play, the Spartans fought hard but were unable to secure additional points. At No. 1 singles, sophomore Matthew Forbes was defeated 2-6, 2-6. Alazmeh fell short 5-7, 3-6 and Sheldon lost a hard-fought 6-7 (5-7), 4-6 match. Three Spartans, Thanos, senior Ozan Baris, and senior David Saye all had matches go unfinished. Ultimately, the Spartans fell to the Wildcats by a 4-1.

Day one ended with the Spartans facing Boise State in doubles, with singles matches following the next morning. Once again, the Spartans were on the board early, taking the doubles point and leading the score 1-0. Thanos and Sheldon earned a quick 6-1 victory over Julius Seifert and Taiyo Kurata. Shortly after, Rakhmatullayev and Alazmeh defeated Carson Baker and Avery Tallakson 6-4.

Day Two:
Day two in Tempe began with singles against the Boise State Broncos, with the Spartans already leading the tie 1-0 after doubles. Three Spartans came out victorious in their matches to clinch the 4-0 win over the Broncos. First, Mitchell Sheldon defeated Idriss Haddouch in a straight-set 6-3, 6-0 match. Matthew Forbes followed, defeating Filip Soderqvist 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 1 slot. Aristotelis Thanos defeated Avery Tallakson 6-3, 6-4, clinching the victory for MSU.

Three Spartans, Alazmeh, Saye and Rakhmatullayev had their matches go unfinished.

For the consolation championship match, Michigan State battled against Big Ten Conference foe, No. 64 Washington Huskies for singles action. First on the board yet again, Sheldon defeated Daniel Bien in a dominant straight set 6-2, 6-0. Rakhmatullayev followed with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Hyeonseok Seo. Shortly after, two Spartans came out with straight set wins to claim the match. Alazmeh earned a 7-5, 6-1 win over Rohan Belday, and Forbes sealed the win with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Soham Purohit.

Michigan State vs. Arizona
Tempe, Arizona
Feb. 27, 2026
MSU 1, Arizona 4

Doubles:
Alazmeh/Rakhmatullayev (MSU) def. — 6-4
— def. Forbes/Baris (MSU) 3-6
Thanos/Sheldon (MSU) def. — 6-3

Singles:
Matthew Forbes: 2-6, 2-6
Aristotelis Thanos: 6-4, 5-4 (uf)
Ozan Baris: 4-6, 0-2 (uf)
Taym Alazmeh: 5-7, 3-6
David Saye: 6-4, 3-6 (uf)
Mitchell Sheldon: 6-7 (5-7), 4-6

Michigan State vs. Boise State
Tempe, Arizona
Feb. 27-28, 2026
MSU 4, Boise State 0

Doubles:
D. Rakhmatullayev/T. Alazmeh (MSU) def. A. Tallakson/C. Baker (BSU) 6-4
D. Saye/M. Sheldon (MSU) vs. S. Aronson/F. Soderqvist (BSU) 3-4 (uf)
M. Forbes/A. Thanos (MSU) def. T. Kurata/J. Seifer (BSU) 6-1

Singles:
Matthew Forbes (MSU)def. Filip Soderqvist (BSU) 6-3, 6-2
Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. Avery Tallakson (BSU) 6-3, 6-4
Taym Alazmeh (MSU) vs. Stewart Aronson (BSU) 4-6, 5-4 (ABD)
David Saye (MSU) vs. Carson Baker (BSU) 6-2, 4-3 (ABD)
Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) vs. Lukas Velik (BSU) 6-4, 5-2 (ABD)
Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) def. Idriss Haddouch (BSU) 6-3, 6-0

Michigan State vs. Washington
Tempe, Arizona
Feb. 28, 2026
MSU 4, Washington 0

Singles:
Matthew Forbes (MSU) def. Soham Purohit (UW) 6-2, 6-3
Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) vs. Stephane Kamendje (UW) 6-3, 3-6 (ABD)
Taym Alazmeh (MSU) def. Rohan Belday (UW) 7-5, 6-1
David Saye (MSU) vs. Brett Pearson (UW) 7-5, 2-1 (ABD)
Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) def. Hyeonseok Seo 6-3, 6-1
Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) def. Daniel Bien (UW) 6-2, 6-0