Michigan State’s Ozan Baris and partner Basavareddy continue to be tough to stop at the Cranbrook Tennis Classic – The Oakland Press

After a successful sophomore season at Michigan State University, Ozan Baris makes his return across the net Thursday afternoon in a doubles victory at the Cranbrook Tennis Classic. (BRYAN EVERSON – MediaNewsGroup)

BLOOMFIELD HILLS – Of the two, Ozan Baris and his partner Nishesh Basavareddy are certainly the livelier of the tandem.

However, when someone at the Cranbrook Tennis Classic on Thursday drew a comparison to the famous duo of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Baris was more than happy to have his counterpart take on the more coveted Jordan role.

“Look, at the end of the day, you get a ring, you get a ring,” said Baris, who is also currently shining in the college ranks at Michigan State. “He’s a total hit in singles, and I want to be, but he’s a leader there. I’m just happy to play doubles with him and that we’re getting wins together.”

Basavareddy, the Pac-12 singles player of the year, and Baris had yet to win anything in the second year of the Classic, which is part of the ATP Challenger Tour, but the comparison is more about the work put in. Aside from a scare in the second round, Baris and Basavareddy won every other match in straight sets as they claimed the boys’ doubles title at the 2022 US Open.

Photo gallery from Day 5 of the second annual Cranbrook Tennis Classic

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“I haven’t been able to play with him since then, which is unfortunate,” Baris said after the pair defeated Kaichi Uchida and Tung-Lin Wu (7-6, 7-5) in the quarterfinals on day five of the tournament. “Fortunately, we got a wildcard from the USCA – thank you very much – and we’re making good use of it so far.”

Baris estimates they first played together when they were 11 or 12 years old. “(Nishesh) is just a damn good player, unbelievable, and I think I bring a lot of good energy,” he said. “We tend to feed each other with that energy and we both have good results. And we know each other very well, that’s what makes us so good, the chemistry, for sure.”

Baris, a quarterfinalist at the 2022 Australian Junior Open and also a Division 2 singles titleholder from Okemos High School, has already earned his place in Spartans history. He recently reached the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championships, part of a second season in which MSU earned its first NCAA Tournament victory in program history. He was also honored with the region’s Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award.

“It’s been a great year,” Baris said. “I felt like I’ve moved to the top of the college game. I got to No. 5 in the country and I’m going to start No. 1 next year. So I feel like I’ve seen that level of college before. Now it’s about playing Challenger events and high-level Futures and just trying to adapt and keep getting better because that’s the next step for me.”

Friday was to be a busy day for both of them. Basavareddy was scheduled to face former Wimbledon quarterfinalist Bernard Tomic for a place in the singles semifinals of the Classic, then Baris and Basavareddy had to beat Gijs Brouwer and Tristan Schoolkate to secure a place in the doubles final.

Tomis won an exciting three-set duel on the stadium court against Quinn Vandecasteele (Oregon) on Thursday.

Both Brouwer and Basavareddy won their round of 16 singles matches in three sets on Thursday afternoon, before Brouwer and his partner prevailed after a match tiebreak.

“I would say if I reach the semifinals in singles and the final in doubles, I would have a pretty good week,” Brouwer said when asked what would constitute a successful performance at the tournament.

The top-seeded team of Ryan Seggerman and Patrik Trhac had to compete on the other side of the doubles group against Tristan Boyer and Dennis Novikov on Friday to determine the other final spot.