EAST LANSING – Michigan State University tennis freshman Matthew Forbes’ U.S. Open journey begins Tuesday.
Forbes, the first Spartan to ever qualify for the tournament, will face Russian Roman Safiullin in the opening match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, the US Open announced Friday.
The 27-year-old Safiullin is ranked 59th in the latest ATP world rankings.
“It means a lot to me to play in the U.S. Open as a Spartan and be the first Michigan State player to play there, especially since I believe I’m one of only four college players in the main draw,” said Forbes, an incoming freshman at MSU. “I think it means a lot to the program and as far as recruiting goes, there will be young guys coming out and seeing the Spartan logo and our coaches in Spartan gear and hopefully that will be great for our program for years to come.”
Forbes, 18, earned the wildcard by winning the singles title at the United States Tennis Association boys’ 18-under national championships on Aug. 11 at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium.
“It’s great to have Matthew in the main draw of the US Open,” MSU assistant coach Kazuki Matsuno said Thursday. “He’s the first from our program and not many college programs can say they have a player in the main draw of the US Open. This is great for us and a great advertisement for us since he’ll be wearing Sparty gear there.”
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Forbes began his match in the round of 32 of the 18U tournament on August 7, defeating Braeden Gelletich 6-3, 6-0. He then beat Penn freshman Sanjeev Chundu 6-0, 6-3 in the round of 16 before earning a three-set victory (6-2, 2-6, 6-4) over Ohio State freshman Nikita Filin in the quarterfinals.
With a dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over TCU freshman Cooper Woestendick on August 10, Forbes reached the final against 16-year-old Jack Kennedy. Forbes secured the title with a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 victory in four sets.
Forbes, a high-profile recruit from TennisRecruiting.net, signed a national letter of intent with the Spartans in July. The Raleigh, North Carolina native has his highest junior ranking to date at No. 34 with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is ranked No. 6 in the class of 2024.
Forbes will be accompanied to New York by MSU head coach Harry Jadun, Matsuno and other members of the Spartans coaching staff, as well as his hitting partner, MSU junior Ozan Baris.
