Spartan picks up weekly honor in league’s inaugural season presenting first-year players.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men's tennis freshman Matthew Forbes was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week as announced Wednesday by the conference office.
Forbes earned Freshman of the Week honors after an impressive performance in singles play, going 2-0 at No. 3 singles, including a ranked victory.
Forbes made history for Michigan State, becoming the program's first-ever recipient of the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award after an outstanding performance in singles and doubles play. This spring was the first time that the B1G started presenting a Freshman of the Week accolade in addition to the weekly Player of the Week honors.
Overall, this is MSU's fifth B1G weekly award of the season, with three in the fall and one in the spring, and all five have been different Spartan players. Forbes is also the second different Spartan freshman to earn the recognition, as freshman Danial Rakhmatullayev earned Player of the Week honors in the fall.
Senior Max Sheldon earned the conference's first honor of the season on Sept. 25, while junior Ozan Baris collected the accolade on Oct. 16, Rakhmatullayev picked up the award on Oct. 30. MSU's spring season award collection started on Jan. 22 when sophomore Aristotelis Thanos earned the Spartans' previous award.
Forbes secured a straight-sets win over No. 92 Wissam Abderrahman of Clemson, 6-4, 6-3, on Sunday. He started the weekend on Friday night with a hard-fought battle against Alan Jesudason of Tennessee, ultimately prevailing 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 1-0 (10-5).
In doubles competition, Forbes finished the weekend with a 1-1 record, further showcasing his strong all-around play, with the lone loss coming against the nation's 69th-ranked doubles team in Clemson's Wissam Abderrahman/Romain Gales.
Forbes saw a slight shift in his national standing, moving from No. 40 to No. 43 in this week's updated ITA rankings. Despite the small drop, Forbes continued to showcase his talent with a strong performance over the weekend, including a ranked singles victory that helped him earn Freshman of the Week honors.
His ability to compete at a high level against top opponents highlights his consistency and potential as he looks to climb back up the rankings in the coming weeks.
Forbes and Michigan State heads back on the road next week, as the Spartans will travel to Boise, Idaho to take on Boise State on Sunday, Feb 9 at 1 p.m. ET/11 a.m. MT.
Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.
