diff --git a/src/material/core/tokens/m2/mat/_tab-header.scss b/src/material/core/tokens/m2/mat/_tab-header.scss
index f923b5d06a00..4a54c6880cc1 100644
--- a/src/material/core/tokens/m2/mat/_tab-header.scss
+++ b/src/material/core/tokens/m2/mat/_tab-header.scss
@@ -17,15 +17,27 @@ $prefix: (mat, tab-header);
   $is-dark: map.get($config, is-dark);
   $foreground: map.get($config, foreground);
   $primary: map.get($config, primary);
+  $inactive-label-text-color: rgba(if($is-dark, #fff, #000), 0.6);
+  $active-label-text-color: theming.get-color-from-palette($primary, default);
+  $ripple-color: theming.get-color-from-palette($primary, default);
 
   @return (
-    ripple-color: theming.get-color-from-palette($primary, default),
     disabled-ripple-color: theming.get-color-from-palette($foreground, disabled),
     pagination-icon-color: if($is-dark, #fff, #000),
 
     // Note: MDC has equivalents of these tokens, but they lead to much higher selector specificity.
-    inactive-label-text-color: rgba(if($is-dark, #fff, #000), 0.6),
-    active-label-text-color: theming.get-color-from-palette($primary, default),
+    inactive-label-text-color: $inactive-label-text-color,
+    active-label-text-color: $active-label-text-color,
+
+    // Tokens needed to implement the gmat styles. Externally they don't change.
+    active-ripple-color: $ripple-color,
+    inactive-ripple-color: $ripple-color,
+    inactive-focus-label-text-color: $inactive-label-text-color,
+    inactive-hover-label-text-color: $inactive-label-text-color,
+    active-focus-label-text-color: $active-label-text-color,
+    active-hover-label-text-color: $active-label-text-color,
+    active-focus-indicator-color: $active-label-text-color,
+    active-hover-indicator-color: $active-label-text-color,
   );
 }
 
diff --git a/src/material/core/tokens/m2/mdc/_tab-indicator.scss b/src/material/core/tokens/m2/mdc/_tab-indicator.scss
index 776e8002fc35..82adb1dbdf89 100644
--- a/src/material/core/tokens/m2/mdc/_tab-indicator.scss
+++ b/src/material/core/tokens/m2/mdc/_tab-indicator.scss
@@ -15,10 +15,8 @@ $prefix: (mdc, tab-indicator);
   @return (
     active-indicator-height: 2px,
 
-    // =============================================================================================
-    // = TOKENS NOT USED IN ANGULAR MATERIAL                                                       =
-    // =============================================================================================
-    active-indicator-shape: null,
+    // Currently set to zero, but used by the gmat styles to make the indicator rounded.
+    active-indicator-shape: 0,
   );
 }
 
diff --git a/src/material/tabs/_tabs-common.scss b/src/material/tabs/_tabs-common.scss
index 6449059edaf8..0356f795d388 100644
--- a/src/material/tabs/_tabs-common.scss
+++ b/src/material/tabs/_tabs-common.scss
@@ -46,8 +46,17 @@ $mat-tab-animation-duration: 500ms !default;
   }
 
   -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;
+  -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;
+  -moz-osx-font-smoothing: grayscale;
   text-decoration: none;
 
+  &.mdc-tab {
+    // MDC's tabs stretch to fit the header by default, whereas stretching on our current ones
+    // is an opt-in behavior. Also technically we don't need to combine the two classes, but
+    // we need the extra specificity to avoid issues with CSS insertion order.
+    flex-grow: 0;
+  }
+
   @include token-utils.use-tokens(
     tokens-mat-tab-header.$prefix,
     tokens-mat-tab-header.get-token-slots()
@@ -57,21 +66,44 @@ $mat-tab-animation-duration: 500ms !default;
     @include token-utils.create-token-slot(letter-spacing, label-text-letter-spacing);
     @include token-utils.create-token-slot(line-height, label-text-line-height);
     @include token-utils.create-token-slot(font-weight, label-text-weight);
-  }
 
-  &.mdc-tab {
-    // MDC's tabs stretch to fit the header by default, whereas stretching on our current ones
-    // is an opt-in behavior. Also technically we don't need to combine the two classes, but
-    // we need the extra specificity to avoid issues with CSS insertion order.
-    flex-grow: 0;
+    &:hover .mdc-tab__text-label {
+      @include token-utils.create-token-slot(color, inactive-hover-label-text-color);
+    }
 
-    &:not(.mat-mdc-tab-disabled).mdc-tab--active .mdc-tab__text-label {
-      @include token-utils.use-tokens(
-        tokens-mat-tab-header.$prefix,
-        tokens-mat-tab-header.get-token-slots()
-      ) {
+    &:focus .mdc-tab__text-label {
+      @include token-utils.create-token-slot(color, inactive-focus-label-text-color);
+    }
+
+    &.mdc-tab--active {
+      .mdc-tab__text-label {
         @include token-utils.create-token-slot(color, active-label-text-color);
       }
+
+      .mdc-tab__ripple::before,
+      .mat-ripple-element {
+        @include token-utils.create-token-slot(background-color, active-ripple-color);
+      }
+
+      &:hover {
+        .mdc-tab__text-label {
+          @include token-utils.create-token-slot(color, active-hover-label-text-color);
+        }
+
+        .mdc-tab-indicator__content--underline {
+          @include token-utils.create-token-slot(border-color, active-hover-indicator-color);
+        }
+      }
+
+      &:focus {
+        .mdc-tab__text-label {
+          @include token-utils.create-token-slot(color, active-focus-label-text-color);
+        }
+
+        .mdc-tab-indicator__content--underline {
+          @include token-utils.create-token-slot(border-color, active-focus-indicator-color);
+        }
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -79,6 +111,14 @@ $mat-tab-animation-duration: 500ms !default;
     // MDC doesn't support disabled tabs so we need to improvise.
     opacity: 0.4;
 
+    // We use `pointer-events` to make the element unclickable when it's disabled, rather than
+    // preventing the default action through JS, because we can't prevent the action reliably
+    // due to other directives potentially registering their events earlier. This shouldn't cause
+    // the user to click through, because we always have a header behind the tab. Furthermore, this
+    // saves us some CSS, because we don't have to add `:not(.mat-mdc-tab-disabled)` to all the
+    // hover and focus selectors.
+    pointer-events: none;
+
     @include token-utils.use-tokens(
       tokens-mat-tab-header.$prefix,
       tokens-mat-tab-header.get-token-slots()
@@ -107,7 +147,7 @@ $mat-tab-animation-duration: 500ms !default;
       tokens-mat-tab-header.$prefix,
       tokens-mat-tab-header.get-token-slots()
     ) {
-      @include token-utils.create-token-slot(background-color, ripple-color);
+      @include token-utils.create-token-slot(background-color, inactive-ripple-color);
     }
   }
 
@@ -154,7 +194,7 @@ $mat-tab-animation-duration: 500ms !default;
       tokens-mat-tab-header.$prefix,
       tokens-mat-tab-header.get-token-slots()
     ) {
-      @include token-utils.create-token-slot(background-color, ripple-color);
+      @include token-utils.create-token-slot(background-color, inactive-ripple-color);
     }
   }
 }
@@ -202,7 +242,7 @@ $mat-tab-animation-duration: 500ms !default;
         tokens-mat-tab-header.$prefix,
         tokens-mat-tab-header.get-token-slots()
       ) {
-        @include token-utils.create-token-slot(background-color, ripple-color);
+        @include token-utils.create-token-slot(background-color, inactive-ripple-color);
       }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/material/tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-link.scss b/src/material/tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-link.scss
index 88ea285d10f4..0fcae6c69f2a 100644
--- a/src/material/tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-link.scss
+++ b/src/material/tabs/tab-nav-bar/tab-link.scss
@@ -5,14 +5,6 @@
 .mat-mdc-tab-link {
   @include tabs-common.tab;
 
-  &.mat-mdc-tab-disabled {
-    // We use `pointer-events` to make the element unclickable when it's disabled, rather than
-    // preventing the default action through JS, because we can't prevent the action reliably
-    // due to other directives potentially registering their events earlier. This shouldn't cause
-    // the user to click through, because we always have a `.mat-tab-links` behind the link.
-    pointer-events: none;
-  }
-
   // Note that we only want to target direct descendant tabs.
   .mat-mdc-tab-header.mat-mdc-tab-nav-bar-stretch-tabs & {
     flex-grow: 1;