Meet 'poet', Ozan Baris, the No. 1 college player

When Ozan Baris changed his name, it may not have seemed like a drastic switch on paper, but for the 20-year-old, it launched a new legacy.

Born as Ozan Colak, the American changed his name to solely his first and middle name. 'Ozan’ means ‘poet’ in Turkish while ‘Baris’ translates to ‘peace’.

“Colak means ‘crippled arm’ so I was like, ‘This is kind of bad juju’ to have ‘crippled arm’ in my name,” Baris told ATPTour.com at this week’s MarketBeat Open, an ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

“I was like, ‘I’ll create a new legacy behind my name and create my family and hopefully the Baris name will keep going on for however long it does’. I just wanted to create my own story.”

The 20-year-old is already creating quite a legacy as the No. 1 college player in the ITA singles rankings, the first player in Michigan State University programme history to reach that position.

But Baris would not be where he is today without his mother’s unwavering support and sacrifices.

Baris is the son of a single mother, Banu, who grew up in Turkey and moved to the American state of Michigan as a high school exchange student. She attended Cooley Law School and has worked hard to provide for Ozan and his older sister Sema.

“Once I got to college, I actually realised how much of a sacrifice — and in a sense, a burden — that she made financially, as well as her time and so many things,” Baris said.

“When I look back, I would not be where I am without her. Anything that I needed, anything that was in the question of, ‘Would this help me?’ was always done without the thought of the money, the time, the travel.

“Whatever it was, that was never a question. Like, ‘I have to play Nationals, they want me in Orlando for three weeks, they want me to go across the world and play these tournaments’. And it was like, ‘Yep. We’ll figure it out, we’ll make it happen’.”

Baris began playing tennis at age five and he remembers almost immediately telling his coach, ‘I want to be number one in the world’. As a child, Baris played tennis while wearing goggles as eyeglasses, which constantly fogged. He laughs when remembering those days and states that the goggles will never make a comeback.

Though Baris played basketball as well, it only made sense that he stuck with the sport that brought him peace.

“My earliest memories were whatever worries of the day — I mean I was pretty young, so the worries weren’t crazy — but whatever stress, I would go on the court and everything would kind of go away. I wouldn’t think about anything else,” Baris said. “I’d just be super present for two hours. There’s nothing else in the world. That was like my safe space.”

The passion and energy Baris plays with can easily be felt courtside. He does not shy away from a loud roar following a thrilling point or vocally sharing his frustration. According to Baris, it is a reflection of how much he cares for the sport. Although tennis is an important part of Baris’ life, the American has learned to keep things in perspective.

“I think for a long time I was trying to prove myself and my worthiness through my tennis and really identifying myself with it,” Baris said.

“At this point now, I’m kind of going back to, ‘How do I feel when I’m playing on court? Can I get to the point of me competing and doing my best is what makes me happy?’ When I’m doing that, I feel that I’m succeeding. Not on the court, but just as a human and a person.”

Ozan Baris celebrates reaching his first Challenger quarter-final in Sioux Falls. Credit: Jason Harris/MarketBeat Open

A native of Okemos, Michigan, Baris played one season of high school tennis and lifted the singles title as a freshman. He stayed close to home to compete for the Michigan State Spartans, where he is currently a junior.

In 2022, Baris partnered fellow #NextGenATP American Nishesh Basavareddy to win the US Open boys’ doubles event. It was a memorable week that featured a second-round match which Baris recalls “genuinely everything possible went wrong”, yet they navigated their way to a win.

Just hours after Baris and Basavareddy won the title, an unfortunate moment happened. Baris set down the trophy and heard a crack. The trophy slightly broke at the bottom.

“They sent me another one, so now I have one and a half,” Baris said. “I have the broken one and a clean one as well. It’s nice that they sent one.”

Baris’ collegiate success has qualified him for the Next Gen Accelerator Programme, which gives him six qualifying spots at select ATP Challenger Tour events. At World No. 709 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Baris has already used four of those spots and has two more upcoming commitments this season.

The exposure at the Challenger level has led Baris to make key changes in his game.

“I was [having success] in college and then I was going to the Challenger Tour and I was getting destroyed because the way I was playing in college wasn’t translating to the professional tour, just much more passive aggressive and counterpunching and I feel like on the Challenger Tour, you’re not rewarded as much,” Baris said. “You kind of need to have some weapons.

“If I didn’t have those Accelerator spots, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to really see where I’m at and what I need to improve.”

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