EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men’s tennis fell to No. 26 Northwestern, 6-1, in its regular-season finale Sunday afternoon at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.
MSU dropped to 10-13 (3-6 B1G), while Northwestern moved to 19-8 (7-2 B1G).
Sunday’s match marked the final career home match for Spartan seniors Kazuki Matsuno and Anthony Pero, who were recognized during the match.
Northwestern picked up the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Freshman Ozan Baris and Pero fell in a tightly-contested 6-4 match to 61st-ranked Steven Forman and Simen Bratholm, while junior Reed Crocker and Matsuno, also playing a close match against a ranked team, fell 6-4 to 80th-ranked Gleb Blekher and Ivan Yatsuk. Playing at No. 3 doubles, sophomore Max Sheldon and junior Graydon Lair won their fifth-straight match together, defeating Trice Pickens and Natan Spear, 6-4.
Sheldon earned the Spartans’ lone point of the afternoon with a win at No. 2 singles over Northwestern’s Yatsuk. In a back-and-forth match, Sheldon battled back from trailing in the first set to secure a a 7-5 first-set win before dropping his second set 7-6(5). After the Wildcats clinched the match, the match moved to a super tiebreak final set, where Sheldon won 10-7 to take the victory.
Pero also battled in a close match on court four, falling to Pickens 7-6(6),…
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