Baris and Zheng Reach Men's Semifinals; Bennett and Fliegner Advance to Women's Final Four at D-I Singles Championships; Dostanic Extends Winning Streak at Austin $25K; Qualifier Crossley Moves on at Boca Raton W50

Six months after reaching the NCAA Division I singles semifinals in Stillwater Oklahoma, juniors Ozan Baris of Michigan State and Michael Zheng of Columbia find themselves back there after claiming straight-sets victories today at the Hurd Tennis Center on the campus of Baylor University.

Baris, who is unseeded in this tournament despite being No. 1 in the ITA preseason rankings published in August, defeated No. 5 seed Jay Friend of Arizona 6-1, 7-5, winning the final five games of the match. 

Baris was unwilling to credit a big jump in his level for that final surge, responding to a question from Cracked Racquets' Alex Gruskin about that second set comeback.

"I kept my head down and the points turned my way," said the 20-year-old from Okemos Michigan, who is the first three-time All-American(two singles, one doubles) in Spartan history. "I felt the beginning of the set, the points were going his way, the no-ad points. And then, the no-ad points went my way and I stayed tough. It was a close second set, but I just gutted it through."

Baris said he sensed a change this week, contrasting it to how he handled the atmosphere surrounding his run in May. 

"It feels like it's been shorter, honestly," Baris said. "I don't know how to explain it, but this feels like it's all happened pretty quick. Last year, it was crazy, this is another milestone, this is something else, this is something else, constantly feeling that. Whereas now, it's 'I'm back in the semis, it's nice'. I think the biggest difference is that last year I thought my whole life would change if I won the whole thing. This year, I'd love to, but whoever wins this tournament, the day after, they have to wake up and do the whole thing again. I'm not looking just to be an NCAA champion, I'm looking to be a top professional, one of the top players in the world, so I won't stop after this tournament and I won't stop after this year with the team. I'm just going to keep going and see where I can go with my tennis."

Baris will play Wake Forest junior DK Suresh, who defeated fellow No. 9 seed Corey Craig of Florida State 6-3, 6-2.

No. 2 seed Zheng was the first winner of the morning, putting on a clinical display in his 66-minute, 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 6 seed Lui Maxted of TCU. Zheng, who reached the singles final in Stillwater in May, lost 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2 to unseeded Filip Planinsek of Alabama in the championship match, told Gruskin that his run this year also felt different, primarily because in the spring he had three-set match after three-set match.  Obviously pleased with his level today, Zheng is hoping to sustain that in his meeting with No. 9 seed Timo Legout of Texas, who defeated unseeded Spencer Johnson of UCLA 6-3, 6-2. Legout, a 22-year-old from France, has now won 24 matches singles and doubles--every match he was played--since being cleared to begin his collegiate career this fall.

If Baris and Zheng win tomorrow, they will automatically qualify for the USTA's playoff for the US Open wild card, which is slated to happen after the conclusion of the spring dual match season. The criteria for selection to that playoff can be found here.

The women's semifinals also feature one unseeded player, with DJ Bennett of Auburn having a breakout fall, beginning with a quarterfinal appearance at the ITA All-American Championships in September.  Bennett and Virginia's Elaine Chervinsky played the only three-set match of the eight quarterfinals, and that lacked drama, with Bennett running away with the final set for a 7-5, 5-7, 6-0 win.

"I was trying to stick to my game, making sure that I'm making my first serve and being aggressive with my forehand," said the 21-year-old junior from Belleview Florida. "That's something that kind of fell off a little bit in the second set and Elaine took advantage of it. So I had to get back to playing my style of tennis, being aggressive, taking the ball early and putting it away when I get the opportunity. I also returned really well in the third set, so I didn't give her much."

Bennett, who is just the second Auburn player to reach the NCAA semifinals (Fani Chifchieva, 2008), is still trying to comprehend her achievement this week.

"I don't even have words," Bennett said. "It means everything and more to have this opportunity and play these matches. Honestly, I've surprised myself a little bit with my results, but with all the hard work I've put in over this semester and over the past two and a half years, with Jordan(Szabo), Pete(Francis) and Val(Zeleva), everything is falling into place.

Bennett will play fellow junior Julia Garcia Ruiz of Oklahoma, a No. 9 seed, who blitzed past No. 5 seed Valerie Glozman 6-1, 6-1. Bennett said she played Garcia Ruiz last fall in North Carolina, surviving a rally from Garcia Ruiz to post a 6-2, 6-7(3), 10-2 victory.  "I remember being up a set and up in the second set and she made a good comeback and I'm pretty sure I won in a tiebreaker, so I have that little bit of confidence to know that I beat her before. But I'll be sticking to my game and try to have as much fun as possible."

The other women's semifinal will feature two seniors, No. 7 seed Julia Fliegner of Michigan and No. 2 seed Dasha Vidmanova of Georgia.

Fliegner avenged her previous two losses to Ohio State sophomore and No. 9 seed Luciana Perry, the most recent a 6-1, 6-1 loss in the October regional final, posting a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory today. Fliegner and Perry finished their first set as Michael Zheng was finishing his match, but Fliegner was able to win the key points in the final few games to get out of a potential marathon in straight sets. Vidmanova had no trouble with the big-hitting Texas A&M junior Nicole Khirin, with impressive defense-to-offense contributing to her 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Bennett and Legout are still in contention for two titles this week, with both advancing in doubles as well.

Bennett and Ava Hrastar, who are unseeded, defeated No. 5 seeds Jade Otway and Isabel Pascual of TCU 4-6, 6-4, 10-7 and will take on 2023 USTA 18s National Champions Kate Fakih and Olivia Center of UCLA, one of the No. 5 seeds. Fakih and Center, the only 18s champions to earn All-American honors as a team in their freshman year, defeated No. 2 seeds Maddy Zampardo and Gabriella Broadfoot of NC State 6-2, 7-6(5).

Two unseeded teams will face off in the top half, with Alicia Dudeney and Rachel Gailis of Florida taking on Virginia's Melodie Collard and Chervinsky. Dudeney and Gailis, who defeated top seeds Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle of UCLA in the second round, beat unseeded Irina Balus and Ellie Coleman of Duke 6-4, 6-1. Collard and Chervinsky survived a rollercoaster of a match with No. 5 seeds Carson Tanguilig and Susanna Maltby of North Carolina 6-0, 0-6, 10-7.

Unseeded Legout and Lucas Brown of Texas will meet TCU's Pedro Vives and Maxted in the bottom half semifinal. No. 5 seeds Vives and Maxted defeated No. 3 seeds Petar Jovanovic and Benito Sanches Martinez of Mississippi State 6-3, 7-5; Legout and Brown hung on for a 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-8 win over unseeded Bryce Nakashima and Will Jansen of Ohio State.

Unseeded Gavin Young and Benjamin Kittay of Michigan reached the semifinals via walkover, due to an injury to Aadrash Tripathi of UCLA, who was playing with Alexander Hoogmartens. Young and Kittay will face No. 5 seeds Youcef Rihane and Alex Bulte of Florida State, who beat No. 4 seeds Luciano Tacchi and Luca Pow of Wake Forest 5-7, 6-4, 10-7.

The semifinals will, fortunately, be just two at a time, with the women's singles semifinals at 10:00 a.m. Central, the men's singles semifinals to follow, not before 11:00 a.m. The women's doubles semifinals are not before 12:30 p.m. and the men's doubles semifinals are not before 1:30 p.m.

Cracked Racquets will provide coverage of all semifinal matches at ESPN+. Live scoring is here.

While Legout and Brown were extending their stay in Waco, Texas teammate Pierre-Yves Bailly was busy defending his 2023 $25,000 USTA Pro Circuit title in Austin. No. 8 seed Bailly, who did not qualify for the NCAAs, is through to the semifinals, with the 21-year-old senior from Belgium defeating No. 4 seed Patrick Maloney(Michigan) 6-2, 7-5. He will play No. 2 seed Duarte Vale(Florida) of Portugal next.  Texas redshirt freshman Evan Burnett reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over top seed Toby Kodat in the second round, but he lost today to No. 6 seed Stefan Dostanic(USC, Wake Forest) 6-1, 6-3. Dostanic, the champion last week at the $15K in Boca Raton, has now won eight consecutive matches. He will play No. 3 seed Alastair Gray(TCU) of Great Britain, who defeated Roman Gales of France 7-5, 6-0.

At the women's USTA Pro Circuit W50 in Boca Raton, qualifier Mayu Crossley, who is joining UCLA next fall, is through to the semifinals after defeating No. 8 seed Lia Karatancheva of Bulgaria 6-3, 7-6(2). The 18-year-old from Japan, who didn't drop a game in her two qualifying matches, will face No. 6 seed Eva Vedder of the Netherlands in Saturday's semifinals. In the other semifinal, No. 7 seed Whitney Osuigwe will face No. 5 seed Anna Rogers(NC State). Osuigwe beat No. 3 seed Akasha Urhobo 6-4, 7-5, while Rogers took out No. 2 seed Despina Papamichail of Greece 6-3, 6-3.

At the men's $15,000 tournament in Tallahassee Florida, three Americans have advanced to the semifinals, including two current collegians.

Ohio State's Jack Anthrop, who did not qualify for the NCAAs, is through to the semifinals with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over qualifier Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes(Mississippi State); he will play 2021 NCAA Division III champion and No. 4 seed Leo Vithoontien(Carleton) next. Former Florida standout Will Grant, the No. 3 seed, will face qualifier Daniel Milavsky, a senior at Harvard, who did not compete collegiately this fall. Milavsky defeated No. 2 seed Tristian McCormick(Notre Dame, Georgia) 6-1, 6-4 in today's quarterfinals.