MSU Men’s Tennis Advances To B1G Tournament Title Tilt With Semifinal Win Over UCLA Friday

Friday, April 24

Libbey Park || Ojai, Calif.

3 PM ET / 12 PM PT

Michigan State University

(4) UCLA

MSU Men’s Tennis Advances To B1G Tournament Title Tilt With Semifinal Win Over UCLA Friday

4/24/2026 7:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Spartans earn another 4-2 victory over UCLA, avenge last season’s loss to Bruins in semis.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men's tennis advances to the Big Ten Conference Tournament title match after defeating the No. 5 seed UCLA, 4-2, on Friday, April 24, at Libbey Park in Ojai, Calif.

Junior Taym Al-Azmeh clinched the match for the Spartans with his win at No. 5 singles, defeating Andy Nguyen of UCLA, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).

MSU advances to the B1G Tournament championship match on Saturday, April 25 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The Spartans will face the winner of No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 seed Illinois, who play in Friday's second semifinal match. Michigan State is in pursuit of its first B1G Tournament title since 1967 and only its third ever in program history, also winning it all in 1951.

Friday's result was the Spartans' second win over the Bruins this season, including a regular-season meeting on Sunday, March 29, in East Lansing at the MSU Outdoor Tennis Courts. The Spartans are now 2-0 against the Bruins, earning a final of 4-2 both times.

The Spartans' win on Friday also avenged their loss to UCLA in last year's Big Ten Tournament semifinals.

UCLA gained early momentum in Friday's match by taking the doubles point. Senior Aristotelis Thanos paired up with sophomore Danial Rakhmatullayev to face Emon Van Loben Sels and Gianluca Ballota, but fell, 6-4. Shortly after, Al-Azmeh and partner sophomore Mitchell Sheldon were defeated by UCLA's Bengt Reinhard and Spencer Johnson, 6-3.

The Spartan duo of senior Ozan Baris and sophomore Matthew Forbes were up 5-4 over Nguyen and Aadarsh Tripathi, before their match went unfinished.

In singles action, Baris quickly evened the team score after defeating UCLA's Emon van Loben Sels in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Following his doubles partner's lead, Forbes defeated his opponent Rudy Quan 6-3, 6-4, to give the Spartans' their first lead over UCLA. At No. 1 singles, Thanos took down UCLA's Spencer Johnson 6-3, 7-5. Alazmeh squared off against Andy Nguyen in the No. 5 slot, earning another victory for the Spartans at 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) to clinch the Victory for MSU.

Rakhmatullayev put up a good fight against Aadarsh Tripathi, but fell, 6-3, 6-4. Sheldon lost his first set 3-6 before winning the second, 6-4. The third set was tied at 1-1 before the match went unfinished.

In the championship match on Saturday, April 25, Michigan State will face the winner of the match between Illinois and Ohio State. The match will be held at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

The entire Big Ten Tournament will be streamed on BTN+.

Fans can follow MSU's matches with "Watch Live" and "Live Stats" links at MSUSpartans.com.

No. 1 seed Michigan State vs. No. 5 seed UCLA
Big Ten Tournament
Ojai, Calif. (Libbey Park)
April 24, 2026
MSU 4, UCLA 2

Doubles:
1. Matthew Forbes/Ozan Baris (MSU) vs. Aadarsh Tripathi/Andy Nguyen (UCLA) 5-4 (UF)
2. Bengt Reinhard/Spencer Johnson (UCLA) def. Taym Alazmeh/Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) 6-3
3. Emon van Loben Sels/Gianluca Ballotta (UCLA) def. Aristotelis Thanos/Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2

Singles:
1. #33 Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. #52 Spencer Johnson (UCLA) 6-3, 7-5
2. #15 Matthew Forbes (MSU) def. #87 Rudy Quan (UCLA) 6-3, 6-4
3. #57 Ozan Baris (MSU) def. #36 Emon van Loben Sels (UCLA) 6-2, 6-2
4. Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) def. Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Taym Alazmeh (MSU) def. Andy Nguyen (UCLA) 6-3, 7-6 (7-1)
6. Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) vs. Cassius Chinlund (UCLA) 3-6, 6-4, 1-1 (UF)
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 2, 1, 5