Michigan State’s men’s tennis team knocked off North Carolina in resounding fashion in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday in Columbia, South Carolina.
The Spartans dropped the doubles point but then won at No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 singles to clinch the victory, 4-1, with matches at 5 and 6 singles unfinished.
At No. 1 singles, Aristotelis Thanos defeated the Tar Heels’ Chris Xu, 6-2, 6-1. At 2 singles, MSU’s Matthew Forbes won over Roan Jones, 6-3, 6-4. Ozan Baris beat Ian Mayew, 7-5, 6-1 at 3 singles, and the Spartans’ Danial Rakhmatullayev took care of UNC’s Niels Ratiu, 7-5, 6-2, at 4 singles to end the match.
The Spartans advance the second round of the NCAA tournament for the third straight season, where, at 2 p.m. Saturday, they’ll face the winner of host South Carolina (the No. 13-overall seed) and Richmond. That match was slated for Friday afternoon, though delayed by weather.
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Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State men’s tennis cruises past North Carolina to reach second round of NCAA tournament
Reporting by Graham Couch, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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