Ojai, Calif. - Despite a strong start in doubles play, the fifth-seeded UCLA men's tennis team fell short in its bid to upset top-seed Michigan State at the Big Ten Men's Tennis Tournament on Friday afternoon, falling 4-2 in a semifinal showdown at Ojai's Libbey Park. With the loss, the Bruins now turn their attention to next week's NCAA Championships with the draw for that tournament to be released on Monday.

Unlike the previous meeting between the two teams in East Lansing in March (also a 4-2 MSU win), UCLA (17-7) was able to grab the doubles point on Friday with wins at Courts 2 and 3. After Spencer Johnson and Bengt Reinhard took a 6-3 win at the No. 2 spot, the point was clinched at the No. 3 position, where Gianluca Ballotta and Emon van Loben Sels downed the Spartan duo of Danial Rakhmatullayev and Aristotelis Thanos, 6-4.

Unfortunately for the Bruins, Michigan State (17-8) recovered from the doubles setback and came out strong in singles action, taking first sets on four of six courts. In fact, the Spartans would quickly tie the match at 1-1 after 57th-ranked Ozan Baris posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over van Loben Sels at Court 3.

Another straight-set Michigan State win would soon follow at Court 2, where 15th-ranked Matthew Forbes downed No. 87 Rudy Quan, 6-3, 6-4.

Bruin senior Aadarsh Tripathi gave the Bruins some hope at Court 4, downing Rakhmatullayev, 6-3, 6-4.

At the point of Tripathi's victory, three matches remained and all were extremely close. The Spartans, however, would go ahead 3-2 in the match, when the 33rd-ranked Thanos edged No. 52 Johnson, 6-3, 7-5 at Court 1.

From there, all attention turned to the bottom two courts, where UCLA's Andy Nguyen and Cassius Chinlund were playing. Chinlund was early in a third set at Court 6, however Michigan State would get the clinching victory right next door, where Taym Alazmeh downed Nguyen, 6-3, 7-6(1) to send the Spartans into tomorrow's Big Ten Final.

April 24, 2026
Big Ten Tournament Semifinals
(5) UCLA vs. (1) Michigan State

Doubles
1. Nguyen/Tripathi (UCLA) vs. Baris/Forbes (MSU) - 4-5 Susp.
2. Johnson/Bengt Reinhard (UCLA) def. Alazmeh/Sheldon (MSU) - 6-3
3. Gianluca Ballotta/van Loben Sels (UCLA) def. Rakhmatullayev/Thanos (MSU) - 6-4
UCLA Wins Doubles Point | Order of Finish: 2, 3

Singles
1. (33) Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) def. (52) Spencer Johnson (UCLA) - 6-3, 7-5
2. (15) Matthew Forbes (MSU) def. (87) Rudy Quan (UCLA) - 6-3, 6-4
3. (57) Ozan Baris (MSU) def. (36) Emon van Loben Sels (UCLA) - 6-2, 6-2
4. Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) def. Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) - 6-3, 6-4
5. Taym Alazmeh (MSU) def. Andy Nguyen (UCLA) - 6-3, 7-6(1)
6. Cassius Chinlund (UCLA) vs. Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) - 6-3, 4-6, 1-1 Susp.
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 4, 1, 5