Baris Becomes First Spartan to Reach NCAA Semifinal

STILLWATER, Okla. – MSU sophomore Ozan Baris, a native of Okemos, Mich., is the first Spartan to ever earn entry the NCAA Singles Championships semifinals after a commanding 6-4, 6-1 win over Ohio State’s Jack Anthrop on Thursday.
 
Baris, the No. 8 seed in the 64-player championships, took control of the match early, earning the first two breaks in the first set and bouncing out to a 3-1 lead. Anthrop would claim a few games back, but the national No. 30 never led in the match.
 
The Big Ten Player of the Year won the first set over the OSU redshirt-sophomore 6-4 and like in the first set, broke Anthrop on his first two serving games of the second set, eventually winning the second set 6-1.
 
Baris has stacked dominant wins in four straight days now, dropping just one set out of nine played through the first four rounds of the tournament. After going down 4-6 in the first set Tuesday, he went on to handle Stanford’s 55^th-ranked Samir Banerjee and win the match with 6-0, 6-2 set victories in his first round of 32 appearance on Tuesday.
 
On Wednesday, he controlled No. 13 Jack Pinnington of TCU, who had won 12 straight, including in the NCAA Team Championship title run that ended in success for the Horned Frogs Sunday. In the first round Monday, Baris knocked off Auburn’s 31^st-ranked Tyler Stice, 6-2, 6-4.
 
Baris is on a win streak of his own, he’s now won eight straight and hasn’t dropped a match in singles since March 10. He’s 32-6 on the season and already secured All-American status for the second time in as many seasons in collegiate tennis with Tuesday’s victory.
 
The true sophomore will meet Alabama junior Filip Planinsek for a shot at the finals. Planinsek entered the postseason ranked No. 29 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, now 25-13 on the season. En route to the final four the Slovenian has handily beaten Jonas Hartenstein (UNF, 6-2, 6-1), No. 17 Cannon Kingsley (OSU, 7-6, 6-3), No. 5 Micah Braswell (Texas, 6-4, 6-4) and on Thursday, No. 15 Cooper Williams (Harvard, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4).
 
Baris fell in a tiebreaker, 4-6, 7-5, [9-11], to Planinsek playing at the No. 1 singles spot in a dual match between the Spartans and Crimson tide in East Lansing, Mich. 481 days ago on Jan. 28, 2023.
 
The semifinal will be played at 11 a.m. ET, streamed on ESPN+ with a subscription and on Track Tennis…