EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men’s tennis’ Ozan Baris and Max Sheldon have received at-large bids to the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships, as announced by the organization Wednesday.
Baris and Sheldon earned an at-large doubles bid, while Baris also earned an at-large singles bid.
Michigan State will be represented at the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships for the first time since 2015, when current Spartan head coach Harry Jadun and doubles partner John Patrick Mullane made a historic run to the national semifinals to become the first All-American doubles team in program history.
Baris is the first Spartan to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships in singles since Nick Rinks in 2007 and first freshman since Alberto Brause in 1996.
Singles and doubles competition at the NCAA Championships will take place May 22-27 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, after the conclusion of the team tournament. The first round of singles play is set for Monday, May 22, while doubles will begin on Tuesday, May 23. Pairings will be announced at a later date.
Baris and Sheldon teamed up for a spectacular year at No. 1 doubles, posting a 10-3 overall record and 7-2 mark during the dual season. The pair earned a 5-1 record against ranked doubles teams in the spring, falling only to No. 7-ranked Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young of Michigan in a top-10 matchup during the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. Baris and Sheldon are currently ranked ninth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) doubles rankings and reached a season high at No. 6 on April 4, the highest ranking for a Spartan doubles team in program history.
Baris, the 2023 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, holds a 22-16 overall singles record and 10-11 dual record, including a 5-4 mark in the league. The rookie played at the No. 1 singles position in every match during the spring and knocked off a total of 11 ranked opponents throughout the 2022-23 season. Baris entered his collegiate career as a TennisRecruiting.net blue-chip recruit and won the U.S. Open Juniors doubles title alongside current Stanford freshman Nishesh Basavareddy on Sept. 10, 2022.
Baris has earned a spot in the ITA singles rankings every week this spring, reaching a season high of No. 26 for three weeks in January, and currently ranks 49th.
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