Alabama
NCAA Singles Semifinals
Finals Bound! No. 29 Planinsek Defeats No. 9 Baris to Capture Alabama’s First NCAA Singles Championship Appearance
5/24/2024 3:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Planinsek extended his historic run with a three-set victory that included winning the last five points in a third-set tiebreaker
STILLWATER, Okla. –– Alabama's Filip Planinsek will compete for a national title after a stellar performance in the semifinals at the NCAA Singles Championships Friday. No. 29 Planinsek downed No. 9 Ozan Baris (Michigan State), 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(6), to secure his spot in the championship match. The UA junior clinched the win off a five-point run, battling back from a 6-3 deficit in the tiebreaker.
Filip Planinsek won the last ?points in the tiebreaker to clinch the match and advance to the finals ??#RollTide pic.twitter.com/fiCzLkuR3d
— Alabama Men's Tennis (@AlabamaMTN) May 24, 2024
The victory marked the first time in program history that Alabama has had a player reach the finals in the NCAA Singles Tournament, while also serving as the second time the program has competed for an individual NCAA title alongside Mazen Osama and Patrick Kaukovalta's 2019 NCAA doubles runner-up performance.
Planinsek's historic run also included wins over No. 118 Jonas Hartenstein (North Florida) in the Round of 64, No. 17 Cannon Kingsley (Ohio State) in the Round of 32, No. 5 Micah Braswell (Texas) in the Round of 16 and No. 15 Cooper Williams (Harvard) in the quarterfinals. He will face No. 23 Michael Zheng (Columbia) in the championship match on Saturday.
The Match
- The opening set saw its first break in game 11 as Planinsek secured the victory to move ahead 6-5
- With the momentum, he would win the next four points to clinch the opening set at 7-5
- Just like the opening set, the first break would again come late as Planinsek dominated the seventh game, capturing four straight points for a 4-3 lead in the match
- Baris recorded his first break in the second set, moving the score to 5-5 before securing the next two games to take the set at 7-5
- The two traded games in the third set, battling to a 6-6 tie before forcing a tiebreaker to decide the match
- Baris jumped out to an early lead, finding a 5-1 advantage
- The Spartan continued to attack, securing a 6-3 lead, but Planinsek put together an electrifying performance, winning the last five points to clinch the match with an 8-6 score in the tiebreak
- Planinsek recorded a tournament-leading 14 service aces in the match
Next
- Planinsek and Zheng (Columbia) will go head-to-head for the NCAA Singles Title
- The championship match is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT at Oklahoma State's Greenwood Tennis Center
- It will be the second meeting this season between the two student-athletes, who battled at the ITA National Indoor Championships (Feb. 17)
- That February match between then-No. 53 Planinsek and then-No. 15 Zheng remained unfinished, 2-6, 6-3, 1-2, as Columbia recorded the team victory
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Players Mentioned
