No. 20 Spartan Men’s Tennis Opens Weekend With 4-0 Victory Over Huskies

Friday, April 3

Seattle, Wash.

8 PM ET / 5 PM PT

Michigan State University

Washington

Mitchell Sheldon and David Saye action at South Carolina - ITA Kickoff Weekend

Photo by: South Carolina Athletics

No. 20 Spartan Men’s Tennis Opens Weekend With 4-0 Victory Over Huskies

4/3/2026 11:59:00 PM | Men's Tennis

MTEN MSU 4, UW 0 Results

MSU picks up first win in Seattle.

SEATTLE – No. 20 Michigan State men's tennis snagged another road win after a 4-0 victory over the Washington Huskies on Friday night at UW's Quillian Tennis Stadium.

The No. 20-ranked Spartans moved to a 9-0 record in Big Ten Conference play, as well as to 12-7 overall, and have multiple athletes ranked in both doubles and singles action.

Friday was the second meeting this season between the Spartans and Huskies, after then-unranked MSU beat then-No. 64 UW on Feb. 28 at the Diablo College Tennis Invitational in Phoenix, Arizona.

In doubles play, MSU's No. 3 duo of sophomore Mitchell Sheldon and senior David Saye were first on the board after taking down UW's Rohan Belday and Stephane Kamendje 7-6 (6). The Spartan senior duo of Ozan Baris and Aristotelis Thanos clinched the doubles point for the visiting team after defeating Huskies Hyeonseok Seo and Nikola Plavsic 7-6 (5). At No. 1 doubles, the pairing of junior Taym Alazmeh and sophomore Danial Rakhmatullayev entered battle against Soham Purohit and Brett Pearson, but fell after a tough 7-5 fight.

After claiming the early advantage, the Green & White strengthened their lead in singles action after earning three more victories. Up first for the Spartans, Alazmeh defeated Brett Pearson in a swift 6-2, 6-0 straight-set match. Following Alazmeh's lead, No. 51-ranked Baris took down his opponent Stephane Kamendje 7-5, 6-2. To clinch yet another match for MSU, No. 33-ranked Thanos defeated Soham Purohit in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

Three singles matches went unfinished for the Spartans. At No. 3 singles, Rakhmatullayev was down 4-6, 5-6 before his match went unfinished. Sheldon, at No. 5 singles, was down 3-6 in the first set before coming back 7-6 (4) in the second, and down 0-1 in the third before his match was unfinished. Saye was down 4-6, 4-5 in his match before it went unfinished.

The Spartans now move from Seattle to Eugene, Ore., to battle with the No. 53 Oregon Ducks on Sunday, April 5, at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT. The Ducks lost to No. 10 Michigan, 4-1, Friday night.

No. 20 Michigan State vs. Washington
Seattle, Washington
April 3, 2026
MSU 4, UW 0

Doubles
1. Soham Purohit/Brett Pearson (UW) def No. 27 Danial Rakhmatullayev/Taym Alazmeh (MSU) 7-5
2. Ozan Baris/Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. Hyeonseok Seo/Nikola Plavsic (UW) 7-6 (5)
3. Mitchell Sheldon/David Saye (MSU) def. Rohan Belday/Stephane Kamendje (UW) 7-6 (6)
Order of Finish: (3, 1, 2)

Singles
1. No. 33 Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. Soham Purohit (UW) 6-4, 6-3
2. No. 51 Ozan Baris (MSU) def. Stephane Kamendje (UW) 7-5, 6-2
3. Rohan Belday (UW) vs Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) 6-4, 6-5 UF
4. Taym Alazmeh (MSU) def. Brett Pearson (UW) 6-2, 6-0
5. Hyeonseok Seo (UW) vs Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) 6-3,6-7(4), 1-0 UF
6. Nikola Plavsic (UW) vs David Saye (MSU) 6-4, 5-4 UF
Order of Finish: (4, 2, 1)

Match Notes (Prior to Match):
Washington - 8-11
#20 Michigan State – 11-7
Daniel Bien – Out (Injury - Lower Body)
All-time record: Series Tied 2-2, Second Meeting This Season