Michigan State University
No. 7 Kentucky
No. 23 Michigan State Men’s Tennis Upsets No. 7 Kentucky in Highest Ranked Win In Program History
1/17/2025 10:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis
MSU men’s tennis pulls off highest-ranked win in school history in front of a spirited crowd.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- No. 23 Michigan State men's tennis upset No. 7 Kentucky in the Spartans' highest-ranked win in program history Friday night at a raucous MSU Indoor Tennis Center.
Friday night was MSU's 2025 spring and home opening action, and a spirited crowd of 707 mostly Green & White clad Spartan fans made for a memorable historic night, in the first-ever top-25 match-up at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.
MSU's previous highest-ranked win was in 2004 under head coach Gene Orlando with a 4-3 Victory for MSU over No. 8 Vanderbilt.
"I'm just happy for the guys, but also, I think it starts and ends with the facility being packed with fans today," MSU head coach Harry Jadun said. "College tennis is a lot of big points, moments, and deuce points, and I feel like the crowd really tipped those in our favor tonight. If that match is played on a neutral site, who knows what happens, but it's awesome to see the facility packed. It sounds like people were having an issue with parking because the parking lot was full, so that's awesome."
A new doubles pairing was set to take the court with junior Ozan Baris and freshman Vuk Radjenovic who took on UK's Martin Breysach and Jaden Weekes. The Spartans had two familiar double pairings with No. 107-ranked tandem of senior Max Sheldon and freshman Matthew Forbes and No. 66-ranked duo of sophomore Taym Alazmeh and freshman Danial Rakhmatullayev.
The Spartans took control of the court quickly with Alazmeh/Rakhmatullayev helping earn a part of the Spartans' doubles point and bring energy for their teammates and from the crowd.
Baris/Radjenovic used the momentum from fellow teammates to finish their match with a 6-4 win, earning the team the double point. With the doubles point secure, Forbes/Sheldon's match went unfinished (5-4).
"We already knew against this team, we were going to need to have some things go in our favor, and if you're up 1-0, it just makes singles way more manageable. You just have to split the singles rather than going 4-2. So, for us to be up 1-0 gives the guys a little energy and it also keeps the crowd into it," Jadun said. "You can feel them really buying into the match because we have a little momentum, and then the guys took the four first sets, so we had a little bit of cushion there considering we needed to win three matches."
Using the energy and momentum from earning the doubles point and the packed tennis center, the Spartans headed into their singles matches.
Max Sheldon gets it done 💪🏼#GoGreen pic.twitter.com/7ANMPdyi2S
— Michigan State Men's Tennis (@MSU_MTennis) January 18, 2025
Max Sheldon was the first MSU player to win his individual match. Sheldon defeated UK's No. 79 Charlelie Cosnet, 6-4, 6-4, adding another point on the board for the home team. On the next court over, Baris fought back and forth to the last tiebreaker point against Antoine Ghibaudo (UK) 6-1, 7-6 (8-6).
"I think more than anything, it's kind of a confirmation of what we're going to be doing this year," Baris said about the impact of the win for the program. "You kind of go into this match with some expectations, definitely, the belief that we can win, but just seeing our level the way that the match went, it really just gave us a backing of we are a top ten, top five, and want to be a number one team," junior Ozan Baris said. "So yeah, it's kind of that proof that we really are going to be a great team this year, and we want to do some big things."
Junior Aristotelis Thanos took the first set from UK's No. 39 Jaden Weekes but fell in his second set to send the pair to a tiebreaker. Pushing to the very end, Thanos clinched the fifth point, giving the Spartans the victory over the Wildcats.
THAT BIG TEAM WINNING FEELING 🎉🙌🏼
— Michigan State Men's Tennis (@MSU_MTennis) January 18, 2025
MSU clinches the team win!! #VictoryForMSU pic.twitter.com/tfVYWmXVuS
Even with the win secured, the remaining Spartans were set to finish their matches.
Forbes fought hard to the very end but fell to Jack Loutit (UK), 3-6, 6-7 (10-12). Alazmeh was the final Spartan to put another point on the board for the team. He took on Martin Breysach (UK), in a back-and-forth match, pulling out the win, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
In his first match as a Spartan, Radjenovic tried to secure another point for the team but ended up falling, 6-2, 7-6 (7-10) 4-6 to Eli Stephenson (UK).
Following the match, the MSU team autographed the 2024-25 Spartan men's tennis poster for fans.
Up Next:
The Spartans are back in action on Sunday, Jan. 17 in a home doubleheader against Vanderbilt and Western Michigan at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center. First serve for Michigan State vs. Vanderbilt is at 11 a.m., followed by MSU vs. WMU at 4 p.m.
Results
No. 23 Michigan State 5 (1-0), No. 7 Kentucky 2 (2-1)
Doubles
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Ozan Baris/Vuk Radjenovic def. Breysach/Weekes (6-4)
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No. 107 Matthew Forbes/Max Sheldon vs Loutit/Stephenson (5-4, unfinished)
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No. 66 Taym Alazmeh/Danial Rakhmatullayev def. Ghibaudo/Cosnet (6-1)
Singles
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No. 8 Ozan Baris (MSU) def. Antoine Ghibaudo (UK) 6-1, 7-6 (8-6)
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No. 27 Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. No. 39 Jaden Weekes (UK)6-3, 3-6, 6-2
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No. 83 Max Sheldon (MSU) def. No. 79 Charlelie Cosnet (UK) 6-4, 6-4
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Jack Loutit (UK) def. No. 40 Matthew Forbes (MSU) 3-6, 6-7 (10-12)
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Eli Stephenson (UK) def. Vuk Radjenovic (MSU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-10) 4-6
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Taym Alazmeh (MSU) def. Martin Breysach (UK) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3, 1, 2, 4, 6, 5)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2,4,6,5
Players Mentioned
