Men's Tennis Wins Thriller Over Western Michigan, 4-3

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's tennis gained an early edge after claiming the doubles point as they went on to defeat Western Michigan, 4-3, Friday evening inside the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. The Spartans used singles wins on courts six, two and four en route to the victory. The win marks the first for the Spartans over Western Michigan in three years, with their last win coming in 2016-17 (4-3).

"There's no doubt, even starting last weekend at Cornell, we play with a good energy, we played some good doubles and had a great week of practice and we were able to carry that into this match tonight," said MSU men's tennis head coach Gene Orlando. "We won an exciting doubles match, 7-6, to decide the doubles point and we knew it was going to be a battle in singles. We won four first sets and I think we lost three second sets, and it came down to the last match on with Josh Mukherjee being able to pull it out. These guys hung tough and I'm just so happy for them to get a quality win and win it a tough way. Hopefully this will build some momentum for the rest of the weekend."

Western Michigan and the Spartans battled for the doubles point, after splitting wins on the first two courts. The Broncos got on the board first with a 6-0 win on court one by Jannik Opitz and Kennosuke Nouchi over MSU's tandem of sophomore Anthony Pero and junior John Carlin. The Spartans answered with a dominant 6-4 win on court two. Freshman duo Jarreau Campbell and Drew Keene tallied their third win of the season on court two over Jack Randall and Peter Kusynski. Freshman Kazuki Matsuno and junior Josh Mukherjee were even throughout the match with Rodrigo Crespo and Arjun Honnappa in the third slot, as the tandems went to a tiebreaker to decide the doubles point. Matsuno and Mukherjee raced out to 4-0 lead and never looked back, winning 7-1 in the tiebreaker.

MSU and Western Michigan battled in singles action with three courts going to tiebreakers and the Spartans coming away with all three first sets. The Broncos got on the board first in singles with a straight-set 6-3, 6-1 win on court one by Opitz over Carlin in the top slot. Western Michigan pushed its lead to 2-1 after a win by Jack Randall over Kazuki Matsuno (6-3, 6-3) on court five.

The Spartans answered with wins on courts six and two, respectively. Campbell showed fight in the sixth slot for the Spartans against Zac Faveri, winning his first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (1). The freshman from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, cruised in the second set (6-4) to tie the match at two-all. On court two, Pero went at it with Nouchi, who ranks No. 124 in the latest ITA/Oracle singles rankings. Pero dominated the first set, 6-3, before dropping the second, 6-2. Pero finished the win over his first ranked opponent of the season with a 6-3 win in the third set, giving MSU a 3-2 lead. Sophomore Carson Gates made the jump to the second slot for the first time all season where he faced Kuszynski. Gates trailed 5-3 in the first set before rallying to take to force a tiebreaker that he went on to win, 7-6 (5). Kuszynski claimed the final two sets (6-0, 6-3) to tie the match at three with court four left on.

On the deciding court, Mukherjee faced off with Crespo in a battle until the end. Mukherjee and Crespo traded games in the first set and went to a tiebreaker. Mukherjee came out on top in the back and forth tiebreaker, 9-7 to take an early advantage over Crespo. Crespo didn't back down for the Broncos, fighting back to take the second set (6-4) to force a winner take all third and final set. It was all Mukherjee in the third, as he rolled to a 6-1 victory to clinch the 4-3 win for the Spartans.

The Spartans return home this Sunday, Feb. 9 to take on No. 25 Arizona State. Match time is slated for 12 p.m. inside the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility.

Doubles Results

1. Jannik Opitz/Kennosuke Nouchi (WMU) def. John Carlin/Anthony Pero (MSU), 6-0

2. Drew Keene/Jarreau Campbell (MSU) def. Jack Randall/Peter Kuszynski (WMU), 6-4

3. Kazuki Matsuno/Josh Mukherjee (MSU) def. Rodrigo Crespo/Arjun Honnappa (WMU), 7-6 (1)

Singles Results

1. Jannik Opitz (WMU) def. John Carlin (MSU), 6-3, 6-1

2. Peter Kuszynski (WMU) def. Carson Gates (MSU), 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-3

3. Anthony Pero (MSU) def. #124 Kennosuke Nouchi (WMU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

4. Josh Mukherjee (MSU) def. Rodrigo Crespo (WMU), 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-1

5. Jack Randall (MSU) def. Kazuki Matsuno (MSU), 6-3, 6-3

6. Jarreau Campbell (MSU) def. Zac Faveri (WMU) , 7-6(2), 6-4

Match Notes:

Western Michigan 5-4

Michigan State 4-3

Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,5,6,3,2,4)

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Jarreau Campbell

John Carlin

Carson Gates

Drew Keene

Kazuki Matsuno

Josh Mukherjee

Anthony Pero