Ohio State
Michigan State University
No. 3 Buckeyes Defeated by Top-Seeded Michigan State in Six Hour Thriller
4/26/2026 3:03:00 AM | Men's Tennis
NCAA Tournament Selection Show at 4 p.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 2 seed Ohio State was edged by No. 1 Michigan State, 4-3, in the 2026 Big Ten Tournament Finals early Sunday at Libbey Park in Ojai, California.
The match was delayed by inclement weather several times with the match concluding at 2:45 a.m. ET Sunday after starting at 8:20 p.m. Saturday.
The loss was Ohio State's second against Michigan State this season after the Spartans defeated the Buckeyes 4-3 at Ty Tucker Tennis Center earlier this dual season.
Ohio State has made the finals of the Big Ten Tournament 22-consecutive times, all with Ty Tucker as head coach..
The Buckeyes dropped the doubles point for the first time since their March 20th match against Indiana where they rallied to defeat the Hoosiers 4-1. Ohio State has only lost four total doubles points in the dual season.
In singles competition, Aidan Kim, Nikita Filin and Alexander Bernard all earned a victory on courts one, four and six. The match was tied at 3-all and came down to a tiebreaker where Jack Anthrop was defeated to give the Spartans for the 4-3 win.
The Buckeyes will now focus on the 2026 NCAA Tournament. The tournament selection show will be held at 4 p.m. Monday. The show will be streamed on NCAA.com.
Filin and Kim were named to the 2026 All-Big Ten Tournament team.
Doubles
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The Buckeyes were downed in doubles with losses on courts one and two.
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Filin and Brandon Carpico were defeated for the first time in nine matches in a 6-2 setback on court one.
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On court two, Aidan Kim and Bryce Nakashima were tied at 3-all before the Spartans pulled ahead for a 6-3 win to clinch the doubles point for Michigan State.
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Alexander Bernard and Alex Okonkwo led 40-0, while trailing 3-4 on court three, when the doubles point was clinched.
Singles
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Filin tied the match at 1-all on court four, earning his third singles victory of the tournament and maintaining an undefeated record against Big Ten opponents through the dual season.
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On court three, Preston Stearns was defeated 2-6, 4-6 to put the Spartans up 2-1.
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To knot the match, Alexander Bernard earned a three-set victory over Michigan State's Mitchell Sheldon, making the score 2-all and tying the match for the second time of the night.
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The Spartans pulled ahead after Taym Alazmeh edged Bryce Nakashima in a 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 thriller, putting Michigan State up 3-2.
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Aidan Kim was next for the Buckeyes earning a three-set win on court one for his second singles win of the tournament, the victory evened Ohio State and Michigan State at 3-all with a match between #29 Anthrop and #15 Matthew Forbes on court two to decide the match.
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Anthrop fell behind early after suffering a 6-2 set one loss before he came back for a tight 7-5 second set win to force the third set. Anthrop and Forbes battled to a 6-all tie for the Big Ten Tournament Championship. Forbes prevailed to defeat Anthrop 7-3 in the tiebreaker.
#3 Ohio State 3, #25 Michigan State 4
Singles
1. #12 Aidan Kim (OSU) def. #33 Aristotelis Thanos (MSU) 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-5
2. #15 Matthew Forbes (MSU) def. #29 Jack Anthrop (OSU) 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3)
3. #57 Ozan Baris (MSU) def. #30 Preston Stearns (OSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. #85 Nikita Filin (OSU) def. Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Taym Alazmeh (MSU) def. #118 Bryce Nakashima 3-6, 6-0, 7-5
6. Alexander Bernard (OSU) def. Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Doubles
1. Ozan Baris/Matthew Forbes (MSU) def. #5 Brandon Carpico/Nikita Filin (OSU) 6-2
2. Taym Alazmeh/Mitchell Sheldon (MSU) def. #39 Alexander Bernard/Alex Okonkwo (OSU) 6-3
3. #53 Aidan Kim/Bryce Nakashima (OSU) vs. Aristotelis Thanos/Danial Rakhmatullayev (MSU) 3-4, unfinished
Match Notes:
Michigan State 18-8 ; National ranking #25
Ohio State 29-4; National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (4,3,6,5,1,2)
T- 6:26
#GoBucks
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
4,3,6,5,1,2
