Here's the date and first opponent for MSU's Matthew Forbes at the U.S. Open

EAST LANSING — Michigan State tennis freshman Matthew Forbes' U.S. Open journey will begin on Tuesday.

Forbes, the first Spartan ever to qualify for the tournament, will open against Roman Safiullin of Russia at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow, New York, as announced by the U.S. Open Friday.

Safiullin, 27, is ranked No. 59 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 think I’m one of just four college players in the main draw,” said Forbes, an incoming freshman at MSU. “I think it means a lot to the program and recruiting-wise, there’s going to be young kids that see that Spartan head logo and our coaching staff in Spartan gear and hopefully over the next few years that will be great for our program.”

Forbes, 18, earned the wild card entry by winning the singles title at the United States Tennis Association Boys’ 18-Under National Championships in Kalamazoo on Aug. 11 at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium.

“It’s great to have Matthew playing in the U.S. Open main draw," MSU assistant coach Kazuki Matsuno said on Thursday. "He’s the first from our program and not a lot of college programs get to say they have a guy in the main draw of the U.S. Open. It’s huge for us and huge promotion for us since he’ll be sporting some Sparty gear while he’s there.”

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Forbes opened action at the 18U Tournament in the Round of 32 on Aug. 7, defeating Braeden Gelletich, 6-3, 6-0. He then knocked off incoming 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.

A dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over TCU freshman Cooper Woestendick on Aug. 10 sent Forbes to the finals against 16-year-old Jack Kennedy. Forbes secured 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win in four sets to take the title.

A TennisRecruiting.net blue-chip recruit, Forbes signed a National Letter of Intent with the Spartans in July. The Raleigh, North Carolina native has an International Tennis Federation (ITF) juniors career-high ranking of No. 34 and is ranked sixth in the class of 2024.

Forbes will be accompanied to New York by MSU head coach Harry Jadun, Matsuno and other members of the Spartan coaching staff, along with his hitting partner, MSU junior Ozan Baris.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Here's the date and first opponent for MSU's Matthew Forbes at the U.S. Open