Michigan State redshirt sophomore Aristotelis Thanos pumps his fist in celebration of a singles victory during a match at the MSU Tennis Center on April 6, 2025.
After a dominant performance against Northwestern, Michigan State University men’s tennis faced a tougher challenge and pulled out a hard-fought win over No. 24-ranked Illinois.
The Spartans have now won six of their last seven matches, with their only loss coming to No. 3 Ohio State.
In doubles play, Michigan State clinched the first two matches while the third went unfinished.
Junior Ozan Baris and freshman Matthew Forbes continued their strong form with a 6-2 win. Senior Max Sheldon and freshman Danail Rakhmatullayev followed with an impressive 6-1 victory.
"I think the big thing was the doubles point, that's been a huge area of focus for us for the past two to three months and it's starting to really take shape," MSU men's tennis head coach Harry Judan said. "The guys did such a great job in doubles and getting that doubles point."
Securing the doubles point gave the Spartans early momentum, but Illinois wasn’t going to go down easily in singles play.
Freshman Mitchell Sheldon delivered the only dominant singles performance for MSU, winning both sets 6-2. Freshman Vuk Radjenovic also impressed, taking a competitive first set 7-5 before cruising through the second set 6-2.
With a 3-0 lead, the Spartans needed just one more win to clinch the match.
Illinois didn’t go quietly, pushing each of the remaining four singles matches to a decisive third set. Baris, Max Sheldon and redshirt sophomore Aristotelis Thanos all dropped their opening sets but battled back to win the second and force a third.
"The singles were pretty even," Judan said. "I mean, we were lucky to get away with this one, but the guys just stayed tough. It came down to some third sets late in the match, just kind of getting a little lucky, a couple of deuce points here and there. But the home crowd was great, so that gives us a little bit of momentum."
The deciding match came down to Max Sheldon, who faced off against Illinois sophomore Jeremy Zhang in a back-and-forth battle. Ultimately, Max Sheldon sealed the win for MSU, taking the final set 7-5.
"I mean, for me, I just feel like I've been here before," Max Sheldon said. "You know, for four years I've played plenty of third sets and tight matches, and I kind of knew that my opponent hasn't played as much so just use maturity and don't let anything freak me out."
With the win, Michigan State will now get a five-day break before heading west to Los Angeles for a road trip against USC and UCLA on Friday, April 11 and Sunday, April 13.
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