Michigan State men's tennis takes control of Big Ten race with win over UCLA
Spartans move to 8–0 in conference play with five matches remaining in pursuit of first title since 1967
Two days earlier, on the indoor courts, Michigan State had to chase down a win. Sunday, playing on their outdoor courts for the first time, it controlled one.
That distinction is what made the 4–2 win over No. 20 UCLA feel different, even as it extended the same storyline from Friday evening. The Spartans carried momentum from their 4–3 comeback over USC – a match where they trailed 3–1 and needed the final three singles courts to survive – and applied it in a more complete performance at the Spartan Tennis Outdoor Courts.
The result completed a strong weekend for Michigan State and also showed that the reshaped Big Ten standings are not a fluke.
Michigan State is now 8–0 in conference play, the only unbeaten team left, and alone in first place with five matches remaining. UCLA entered the weekend without a league loss. By Sunday afternoon, that had changed, and the Spartans were the reason why.
The contrast between the two wins against the LA-based teams was intriguing.
Against USC, Michigan State spent most of the night responding – dropping the doubles point, falling behind in singles, and relying on three separate comebacks from Matthew Forbes, Danial Rakhmatullayev, and Aristotelis Thanos to flip the match late. It required resilience and precision under pressure, with multiple match points erased along the way.
Against UCLA, the Spartans built the match on their terms. They secured the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3, establishing an early edge that allowed the lineup to play from in front. Ozan Baris and Forbes were decisive in a 6–2 win, and Thanos and Mitchell Sheldon followed by winning a tiebreak to close the point.
That early control carried into singles.
Sheldon extended MSU's lead with a clean 6–2, 6–2 win at No. 6, and Rakhmatullayev followed with a 6–4, 6–1 result at No. 4, pushing Michigan State within one point of clinching before UCLA could even create real pressure on the scoreboard.
The finish still came from the top of the lineup, but without the same urgency as Friday.
At No. 1 singles, Thanos again delivered the deciding point, dropping the opening set before settling into the match and winning 1–6, 6–2, 6–2. It marked his second clinch of the weekend, but Sunday's path reflected the broader shift from Friday to Sunday – less chaos, more control.
UCLA picked up wins at No. 2 and No. 5, sure, but Baris had his match at No. 3 in hand before it went unfinished, reinforcing how much margin Michigan State had actually created across the lineup.
Taken together, the two wins showed different sides of the same team. One that can recover when it loses control of a match, and one that can prevent a match from ever getting to that point.
That combination is why the standings now look the way they do.
At 8–0 in conference play, Michigan State sits alone at the top, ahead of a group that includes UCLA, Ohio State, and Illinois. What remains is straightforward.
Five matches: at Washington, Oregon, and Michigan, with Indiana and Purdue to close the regular season at home.
The opportunity attached to those upcoming matches is significant. Michigan State has not won a Big Ten championship in men’s tennis since 1967.
A Big Ten Championship in men's tennis has not been a realistic pursuit at Michigan State for decades.
Now, it is directly in front of them - and completely within their control.
