EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State men's tennis junior Ozan Baris became the first Michigan State men's tennis player to win the ITA Regional Singles Championship, winning the ITA Midwest Regional title Monday afternoon at the MSU Indoor Tennis Center.
It was an all Big Ten final for both singles and doubles to wrap up ITA Midwest Regionals on Monday, the fifth and final day of tournament action.
Baris is MSU's second-ever ITA Regional title winner, as Francisco Trinidad and Ken Kigongo won the doubles crown in 1998.
Baris took on 12th-seeded William Mroz of Illinois in the semifinal match of singles. A win of 6-4, 6-4 placed Baris in the finals. Baris advanced to meet fifth-seeded Kenta Miyoshi, of Illinois in the finals match. No matter the outcome, both of these players will earn their place at the NCAA Individual Championships. A tough match led Baris becoming the first ever Spartan to win ITA Regionals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Miyoshi.
"It was great. It's always nice to have a good week where you are not coming out a loser, it's pretty rare in tennis," Barris said. "I got a couple of wins under my belt and felt like I improved over the week. It was a good three days for me."
Baris came into the fall season ranked No. 1 in the Division I Men's ITA Collegiate Tennis National Preseason Rankings, and backed it up in rolling through the weekend tournament as the top seed, winning five of his six matches in straight sets.
He opened action with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Peter Nad of Notre Dame. He then knocked off Mathis Debru of Illinois, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in the Round of 32. Baris beat 16th-seeded Will Cooksey of Michigan, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) in the Round of 16. In the quarterfinals match, Baris made quick work of 11th-seeded Christopher Li from Ohio State, 6-1, 6-1, on Sunday to advance to Monday's semifinal. Baris cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Mroz of Illinois in the semis, setting up the final showdown with fifth-seeded Miyoshi.
"Well done by Ozan throughout the week," MSU men's tennis head coach Harry Jadun said. "He had honestly had a little bit of a choppy start to the tournament, had a few scares especially against an Illinois player, Mathis Debru. It's one of those things where you get a little bit of confidence by picking up some tough wins at the beginning of the tournament and then as the tournament goes on, you feel better and better about your game. I have a lot of respect for William Mroz, the guy Baris played in the semifinals, he took down two tough Spartans yesterday, and Kenta Miyoshi, he played some unbelievable tennis. He had some great results in fall so far. For Baris to go out there and win that match was tricky for sure but I'm just proud of him and the way he's matured throughout his three years here."
While Baris' Regional ITA crown is MSU's first singles title, it adds to his award collection, which including ITA All-American last season, earning both Athletic and Academic All-American accolades, and winning the ITA Fall National Championship doubles title with teammate Max Sheldon last season.
"I'm excited about what it means for Ozan," Jadun said. "Ozan has been the first of a lot of things here at MSU and now he's the first ITA Regionals Champion and I think this has been the toughest regionals that we have ever played because of now the NCAA qualification spots are on the line and changes to the format this fall, for him to win it, in what I believe is the toughest regional in the country was really impressive. Kudos to him for earning his No.1 ranking and excited for what the future holds for him."
With Monday's regional win, Baris qualifies for the NCAA Individual Championships next month.
"It was great" Baris said about the win. "More than anything, it feels like the way that I've been dealing with things, and the way that I've been playing, I kind of saw some subsistence behind it these past couple days and it just kind of gave me the confirmation that I'm doing the right thing. So I'm just going to continue to do what I do, and hopefully, there's more of these wins to come."
The NCAA Individual Championships are Nov. 19-24, 2024 in Waco, Texas, hosted by Baylor.
This story originally appeared on MSUspartans.com