No. 7 Kentucky Travels to No. 23 Michigan State for First Ranked Test
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The seventh-ranked Kentucky men’s tennis team will hit the road for its first match away from Lexington this season, traveling to East Lansing, Mich. for a top 25 battle against No. 23 Michigan State.
The Wildcats (2-0, 0-0 SEC) kicked off the 2025 season on January 15, defeating NKU and Xavier in a doubleheader at the Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington. Kentucky swept both teams via perfect 7-0 scorelines, with no Wildcat player or team dropping a set on the entire day. Charlelie Cosnet, Matt Rankin, and Martin Breysach all recorded four wins on the day, taking two victories in singles and two in doubles.
Eli Stephenson also had a dominant singles performance on Wednesday, winning 24 out of 25 games played across two matches as he picked up victories via impressive scorelines of 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-0.
The Wildcats two ranked singles players—No. 39 Jaden Weekes and No. 79 Charlelie Cosnet—split the duties at the top line for Kentucky, cruising to their first victories of 2025.
Friday’s match will be the season opener for No. 23 Michigan State, who is coming off a historic 2024 season in which they earned their first-ever national ranking, advanced to their second NCAA tournament, and set a program record with 23 wins.
The Spartans are led by Ozan Baris, who is currently ranked No. 8 in the ITA Singles Rankings. Baris advanced to the NCAA Singles Championship match this fall and was the preseason No. 1 singles player in the country after advancing to the NCAA Singles semifinals last spring.
Other ranked Spartans include No. 27 Aristotelis Thanos No. 40 Matthew Forbes–the highest ranked true freshman in the nation–and No. 83 Max Sheldon. Danial Rakhmatullayev and Taym Alazmeh lead the Spartans in the doubles rankings at No. 66, with Baris/Thanos at No. 94, Forbes/Baris at No. 99, and Sheldon and Forbes at No. 107.
Following Friday’s week one finale, the Cats will return home to host the 2025 ITA Kickoff Weekend from January 24-25. This will be the third straight year that the Cats host the event, with No. 18 Arizona State, Nebraska, and Santa Clara composing the four-team field. Action will begin on Friday with a pair of first round matches—Kentucky, the regional No. 1 seed, and Santa Clara, the regional No. 4, playing at 1 p.m. ET. Following that, Arizona State, the regional No. 2, and Nebraska, the regional No. 3, will play at 5 p.m. ET. The two first round winners will play in the regional championship—and for a berth to the 2025 ITA Indoor National Championships—at 4 p.m. on Saturday, while the two losers from Friday will play a consolation match at Noon ET.
All home matches will be played at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex and admission is free to the public for all regular season contests. A live stream will be provided for all home matches on UKAthletics.com.
For the latest on UK Men’s Tennis, follow the Wildcats on X and Instagram at @UKMensTennis.
