MSU Men’s Tennis Stars Shine at NCAA Individual Championships

Michigan State Men’s Tennis Players Ozan Baris and Aristotelis Thanos took their talents down to Waco, Texas last week for the 2025 DI Men’s Individual Championships, hosted by Baylor University.

Recognized as the two leaders of the MSU team, Thanos posted a 6-3 singles record this fall coming off of a Big Ten Freshman of the Year campaign in 23’-24’ and Baris continued his dominant Junior year campaign by becoming the first Spartan Men’s Tennis player to be a three-time ITA All-American! These two have so much to be proud of in their respective careers, and in how they handle themselves as leaders, and charitable contributors on a global scale.

Thanos started his tournament strong with a straight sets victory over Alex Kotzen from the University of Tennessee, 6-2, 6-4 respectively, to advance to Round of 32. After a hard fought battle with Colton Smith of the University of Arizona, Thanos lost the decisive final set 6-4 ending his bracket play.

Baris started his tournament with four strong wins over opponents from out West —a Round of 64 straight sets win over Samir Banerjee from Stanford University, Round of 32 victory over Carl Emil Overbeck from the University of California, Round of 16 win over Pedro Vives from TCU, and a dominant quarterfinal, straight set victory over Jay Friend from the University of Arizona — finding himself in a semifinal duel with Dhakshineswar Suresh of Wake Forest, with a chance at a National Championship on the other side.

Baris stepped up when it mattered most in the semifinal, winning 7-5, 7-6 in a closely contested straight sets victory, his third in five matches, and setting up a championship Sunday against Michael Zheng from Columbia. The two dueled throughout an intense, three set match, that was ultimately decided in a 6-2 final set victory for Zheng, recognizing Baris as the National Runner-Up in NCAA individual play.

Charitable Gift America could not be prouder of these young men, and leaders, as they demonstrated professionalism and high character through victory and defeat, and honorably represented Michigan State University. Congratulations on your successful seasons, and we can’t wait to watch you continue to thrive on and off the court!