No. 16 MSU Men’s Tennis Topped By No. 19 Tennessee Friday

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- No. 16 Michigan State men's tennis battled tough in its third Top-25 match-up in as many weeks, but were topped by No. 19 Tennessee, 4-3, Friday night at UT's Goodfriend Tennis Center.

MSU slides to 4-2 on the season, with both losses coming on the road to Top 25 teams, losing last week at No. 2 TCU in the ITA Kickoff Weekend, before Friday night's loss. The Spartans opened the season with a win over No. 7 Kentucky in the season-opener on Jan. 17. Tennessee moved to 5-2 on the year, including 2-1 against Big Ten Conference foes, as the Spartans were the Volunteers' third-straight B1G opponent, as UT beat Illinois, 4-2, before losing to No. 25 Michigan, 4-1, last weekend in ITA Kickoff Weekend action. Tennessee's only other loss on the season was to No. 4 Wake Forest.

Freshman Matthew Forbes, junior Ozan Baris and junior David Saye collected Michigan State's three wins Friday night in singles play, with Saye earning the visiting Spartans' first win of the night, before Forbes and Baris collected wins after Tennessee had already clinched to close the margin.

MSU used two new doubles pairings Friday night, with Baris teaming with freshman Mitchell Sheldon at No. 1 doubles, while sophomore Taym Alazmeh and freshman Danial Rakhmatullayev were at No. 2, and the freshman duo of Forbes and Vuk Radjenovic were at No. 3

The doubles matches were all three tightly contested contests, with Forbes and Radjenovic winning in a quick, 6-3, match to give the visiting Spartans the early momentum. Unfortunately, the home-standing Volunteers seized it back, as the tandem of Mitsui/Jesudason edged Baris/Mi.Sheldon 7-6 (7-3), and Moreno/Kotzen topped Alazmeh/Rakhmatullayev, 7-6 (7-3), as Tennessee took the doubles point.

Shifting to singles, just like his doubles match, Forbes make quick work in set one of his singles match with Alan Jesudason, taking a 6-4 win in the opener. Jesudason battled back to take the second set, 7-6 (3), sending it to a third set 10-point tiebreaker, and Forbes pulled way for the 10-5 win.

Meanwhile at No. 6 singles, Saye secured the Spartans first point of the night, routing UT's Jan Kobierski, 6-4, 6-1, closing the gap to 3-1 in the team score.

Baris had to work a little harder in his first set with No. 37 Alex Kotzen, but emerged with a gritty, 7-6 (7-5) edge. Set two was just as tight at the opener, with Kotzen nabbing a close 7-6 (7-3) edge, sending the match to a third-set 10-point tiebreaker. Just like Forbes, Baris pulled way to match his teammate with a 10-5 victory.

At No. 4 singles, Radjenovic was topped by Jose Garcia, 6-3, 6-1, while Alazmeh was defeated by No. 56 Alejandro Moreno, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 5 singles.

The Spartans remain on the road, heading to Clemson, S.C. to face Clemson on Sunday, Feb. 2 in a 12 p.m. start time. Fans can follow the action between the Spartans and Tigers with "Live Results" and "Watch Live" links at MSUSpartans.com.

Michigan State vs Tennessee
Jan 31, 2025 at Knoxville, Tenn.
(Goodfriend Tennis Center)

#19 Tennessee 4, #16 Michigan State 3

Singles competition
1. #8 Ozan Baris (MSU) def. #34 Alex Kotzen (TENN) 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 1-0 (10-5)
2. #18 Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) def. #83 Max Sheldon (MSU) 6-4, 6-4
3. #40 Matthew Forbes (MSU) def. Alan Jesudason (TENN) 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 1-0 (10-5)
4. Jose Garcia (TENN) def. Vuk Radjenovic (MSU) 6-3, 6-1
5. #56 Alejandro Moreno (TENN) def. Taym Alazmeh (MSU) 6-3, 6-0
6. David Saye (MSU) def. Jan Kobierski (TENN) 6-4, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. #59 Alan Jesudason/Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) def. Ozan Baris/Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) 7-6 (7-3)
2. #21 Alex Kotzen/Alejandro Moreno (TENN) def. #66 Taym Alazmeh/D. Rakhmatullayev (MSU) 7-6 (7-3)
3. Matthew Forbes/Vuk Radjenovic (MSU) def. James Newton/Jan Kobierski (TENN) 6-3

Match Notes:
Michigan State 4-2; National ranking #16
Tennessee 5-2; National ranking #19
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,5,6,2,3,1)

No. 16 MSU Men’s Tennis Topped By No. 19 Tennessee Friday

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Taym Alazmeh

Ozan Baris

Matthew Forbes

Vuk Radjenovic

Danial Rakhmatullayev

David Saye

Max Sheldon

Mitchell Sheldon