Baris’ Comeback and NCAA Singles Championship Run Falls Short in National Semifinal

STILLWATER, Okla. – MSU sophomore Ozan Baris’ NCAA Singles Championships run came to and end in the national semifinal, ever so narrowly Alabama’s Filip Planinsek 5-7, 7-5, 6-7 (6-8) Friday.  
A native of Okemos, Mich., Baris came back from a big deficit in the second set, down 3-5 and 4-5 facing match point, but came back to win the set and force a third set. In the super tiebreaker of the third set, the 64-player tournament’s No. 8 seed was three match points from the national title match.
 
Competing as the first Spartan to ever earn entry to the NCAA Singles Championships semifinals as a true sophomore, Baris also finishes as the first two-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American in program history.
 
The Big Ten Player of the Year finishes the historic season 32-7 in singles, the loss snapping his eight-match win streak that dated back to March 10. In the four matches leading up to the semifinal, Baris dominated his counterparts, winning eight of nine total sets.
 
Planinsek, ranked ITA No. 29 entering the postseason, will face Columbia’s 23^rd-ranked Michael Zheng in the National Championship match Saturday.

Match Recap

In the first set, neither player could break each other’s serve in the first 10 games. It was Planinsek that struck first however, winning the last two games of the set.

 

The second set began similarly to the first, both players holding their services. Planinsek drew first blood however, using a break and a hold to go out front, 5-3 in the set, a game away from the final.

 

Baris held, however, and then, backed up against a wall at match point – four games to five in the set, in a 40-40 deuce – he broke the Alabama junior for the first time on the day. He would go on to win the next to games to force a third deciding set with the Greenwood Tennis Center scoreboard reading 5-7, 7-5.

 
The third set was an even more tightly contested then the first two as the serving player won each of the first 12 games. The scoreboard now displaying 5-7, 7-5, 6-6, the match was sent to a super tiebreaker.
 
Baris delivered the first blow, going up double break in the first-to-seven tiebreaker, 6-3. He had come all the way back from down to his last point in the second set to a point away from winning and advancing in the third set.
 
Planinsek, who had upset three players ranked…