Men's Tennis Teams Begin 2024-25 Seasons

Ozan Baris, MSU / Photo by: Ryan Kuttler

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Just three-and-a-half months after Ohio State captured an NCAA doubles title, a new season of men's tennis began Thursday for Big Ten schools.

Three Big Ten teams are in action this week as the 2024-25 campaign brings changes to the collegiate tennis scene.

Traditionally, fall tennis has allowed student-athletes the opportunity to sharpen their games (and in some cases earn professional tour points) without the pressure of team competition. Fall tennis takes on added importance this year as the NCAA institutes a two-year pilot program to conduct its national championships in singles and doubles in November. The NCAA team championship will still be contested in May. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association has also added two qualifying tournaments to its calendar — Sectional Championships and the Conference Masters Championships.

For the Big Ten, Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington join the fold, raising conference membership in the sport to 14 teams.

The Big Ten is well represented in the ITA Preseason Rankings, with four players in the Top 10 for singles, led by No. 1 Ozan Baris of Michigan State. Teammate Aristotelis Thanos will be representing Greece at Davis Cup this weekend.

ITA Singles Rankings:
#1 Ozan Baris, Michigan State
#7 Gavin Young, Michigan
#8 Karlis Ozolins, Illinois
#9 Jack Anthrop, Ohio State
#31 Calvin Mueller, Nebraska
#35 William Jansen, Ohio State
#38 Peter Makk, USC
#42 Kenta Miyoshi, Illinois
#55 Spencer Johnson, UCLA
#59 Jip Van Assendelft, Indiana
#63 Joan Torres Espinosa, Nebraska
#70 Alexander Bernard, Ohio State
#71 Aidan Kim, Ohio State
#72 Aristotelis Thanos, Michigan State
#75 Rudy Quan, UCLA
#92 Dzianis Zharyn, Washington
#96 Alexander Hoogmartens, UCLA
#101 Karl Lee, USC
#102 Oscar Weightman, USC
#104 Aadarsh Tripathi, UCLA
#108 Cesar Bouchelaghem, Washington
#113 Bryce Nakashima, Ohio State
#114 Anton Shepp, Nebraska

ITA Doubles Rankings:
#10 Cesar Bouchelaghem/Dzianis Zharyn, Washington
#17 Benjamin Kittay/Gavin Young, Michigan
#19 Aidan Kim/Alexander Bernard, Ohio State
#22 Aristotelis Thanos/Ozan Baris, Michigan State
#30 Bryce Nakashima/Jack Anthrop, Ohio State
#34 Anton Shepp/Calvin Mueller, Nebraska
#36 Karlis Ozolins/William Mroz, Illinois
#38 Peter Makk/Volodymyr Iakubenko, USC
#52 Facundo Yunis/Jip Van Assendelft, Indiana
#54 Max Sheldon/Matthew Forbes, Michigan State
#61 Matthew Burton/Lenn Luemkemann, Oregon
#62 Felix Nordby/Vincent Yang, Northwestern
#64 Michael Andre/Luc Boulier, Indiana
#71 Rudy Quan/Aadarsh Tripathi, UCLA
#75 William Jansen/Christopher Li, Ohio State
#77 Spencer Johnson/Emon Van Loben Sels, UCLA
#79 Kaylan Bigun/Alexander Hoogmartens, UCLA
#89 Will Cooksey/Patorn Hanchaikul, Michigan