Spartans Defeat Purdue in Thrilling Big Ten Tournament Opener

MADISON, Wis. - Michigan State men's tennis kicked off the Big Ten Tournament with a thrilling comeback win over Purdue on Thursday afternoon. The Spartans came back from a 3-0 deficit to win four straight singles matches, three in tiebreak fashion, over the Boilermakers to earn a 4-3 victory inside the Nielsen Tennis Center.

After dropping the doubles point and suffering tough losses at No. 1 and 4 singles, the Green & White fought back with wins at No. 2, 3, 5 and 6 singles courts. The match came down to the wire with three singles matches going into tiebreak decisions. Facing a 3-3 deadlock, it was all up to freshman Max Sheldon at No. 2 to pull off the Victory for MSU. The rookie Spartan came back from a 6-3 deficit in his first set for a 6-3 win over Purdue's Sebastain Welch in the second. Points went back and forth through the majority of the tiebreaker set before Sheldon won back-to-back points from out of bounds returns from Welch for the 9-7 tiebreak victory.

The Spartans began the match at a quick disadvantage after Purdue won the doubles point, earning victories on the top two courts. MSU won the first doubles match of the day when Sheldon and Carson Gates defeated Athell Bennett and Piotr Galus 6-2 at No. 3, but the Boilermakers fought to 6-4 and 6-2 wins at No. 1 and 2 doubles to come away with the first point of the day.

The Boilermakers extended their lead with two straight wins in singles action, at courts one and four. Jack Winkler, up against Purdue's Bennett fell 6-2, 7-5 on the top court. Graydon Lair suffered a similar 7-5, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Rohan Sachdev at No. 4 singles. The Spartans kicked things into high gear after that to make up for their 3-0 deficit.

Anthony Pero was the first off the courts with a win for the Green & White. At No. 6, he bested Purdue's Michal Wozniak in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Meanwhile, the final three matches were headed into tiebreak decisions with the match on the line.

Luke Baylis brought MSU closer to the win with his victory at No. 3 singles. After a 3-6 loss in the first set, Baylis won 6-1 in the second and 6-2 in the third to keep Michigan State's momentum going. Gates was the one to tie the match at 3-3 when he won over Purdue's Piotr Galus at No. 5 singles. Gates also suffered a 6-3 defeat in the first set before going up 6-4, 7-5 in the final two sets to take the win.

Sheldon brought home the win for the Spartans with his big comeback at No. 2 singles. Sheldon battled it out with Welch for 2.5 hours and was able to come away with a huge victory to improve his singles record on the year to 20-12 overall.

The Spartans move on in the tournament to face top-seeded Ohio State on Friday, April 29. The match is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET inside the Nielsen Tennis Center on the campus of Big Ten Tournament host Wisconsin.

Spartans Defeat Purdue in Thrilling Big Ten Tournament Opener

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Luke Baylis

Carson Gates

Graydon Lair

Anthony Pero

Max Sheldon

Jack Winkler