Michigan State University
No. 10 Arizona
36th-Ranked MSU Men’s Tennis Closes Out Homestand With Match Against No. 10 Arizona
3/11/2025 6:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Michigan State men’s tennis finishes final action of homestand before heading on the road for B1G conference play.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State's men's tennis gears up for their final match of a week-long homestand, hosting No. 10 Arizona on Wednesday in a non-conference contest. First serve is slated for 5 p.m. at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.
MSU then hits the road to resume Big Ten Conference action, taking on No. 68 Wisconsin and No. 49 Nebraska.
Before the Spartans are back in action, ITA released their weekly rankings. Michigan State made a big jump, moving from 47th to 36th after completing a perfect 2-0 weekend at home against conference foes Washington and Oregon.
With their most recent wins, MSU is tied with Illinois, USC, Michigan and UCLA, who are also 2-0 in the B1G conference, atop the league standings.
Spartans' Last Outing
On Sunday, March 9, the team finished out their B1G conference opener going up against new conference opponents, No. 54 ranked Oregon.
Junior Ozan Baris and redshirt sophomore Aristotelis Thanos were in the No. 1 spot. The brother duo of senior Max Sheldon and freshman Mitchell Sheldon found themselves in the second spot for the Spartans. Sophomore Taym Alazmeh and freshman Vuk Radjenovic rounded out the final doubles pairings for the Spartans.
Alazmeh/Radjenovic took the court going up against Vlad Breazu and Lachlan Roberston from Oregon. After being down 0-2, the Spartan duo fought back and held the Ducks at 2, winning the match, 6-2.
Securing the doubles point for the Spartans were Baris/Thanos. The pairing battled Lenn Luemkemann/Matthew Burton (OU), taking them down by a 6-3 score.
With the doubles point in favor of the Spartans, the remaining doubles match went unfinished.
A tightly-contested match between Lemire (OU) and Radjenovic (MSU) brought Oregon their first point of the match, with Lemire (OU) defeating Radjenovic (MSU), 7-6 (7-2), 7-5.
After missing Friday's match, freshman Matthew Forbes looked forward to match play against Paris Pouatcha from Oregon. The tandem of players scrapped for every point, but with Forbes winning the first set 7-6 (7-5) he pushed through to win the second 6-4.
With the score up 2-1, Thanos challenged Vlad Breazu (OU) but fell 6-7 (5-7), 3-6.
Putting the Spartans ahead of the Ducks was Ozan Baris. He faced Lenn Luemkemann from Oregon, taking him down 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) at No. 1 singles.
Helping secure the win came from freshman Mitchell Sheldon, who put on a performance for the Spartans today, coming back from a 4-6 deficit to win, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
With Michigan State clinching the victory, the remaining match between junior David Saye and Matthew Burton (OU) went unfinished.
Scouting Arizona
In ITA weekly rankings, Arizona dropped two spots, from No. 8 to No. 10. The team currently has four Wildcats in this week's rankings. Senior Colton Smith keeps his long-term spot of No. 3, junior Jay Friend finds his spot at No. 9. Freshman Zoran Ludoski adds another Wildcat to the rankings at No. 60, while freshman Oskar Jansson is the final Wildcat in the singles ranking at No. 107.
Arizona has three doubles pairs in the rankings, senior Inaki Cabrera-Bello finds himself in two rankings this week, No. 54 with Colton Smith and No. 73 with Casper Christensen.
Juniors Jay Friend and Eric Padgham follow closely behind Cabrera-Bello and Smith at No. 58.
Up Next:
The Spartans hit the road to continue their B1G conference play as they take on No. 68 Wisconsin on Friday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT and at No. 49 ranked Nebraska on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT.
Players Mentioned
