Rodrigues Moves into NCAA Singles Quarterfinals
ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 13 South Carolina men’s tennis sophomore Daniel Rodrigues powered through to the NCAA Singles Championship quarterfinals with a another straight-sets win Tuesday afternoon at the USTA National Campus. The No. 2 seed at the event, Rodrigues has topped the Nos. 69, 47 and 49 players in the country to advance.
On Tuesday, Rodrigues again opened with a service break and consolidated for a quick 2-0 lead in the first set against No. 49 Daniel Cukierman of Southern Cal. The Trojans’ senior found his footing, claiming the next four games to take a 4-2 lead. Rodrigues responded with his own four-game win streak to claim the first set 6-4.
The second set began the same as the first with Rodrigues breaking at Love then building a 2-1 lead. He forced Cukierman to deuce on his next service game, but the Trojan got on the board at 2-1. Rodrigues picked up a quick hold at Love in the next game but was tested in his next service game. On deuce point, Cukierman had him on the run to the backhand side only to see the Gamecock sophomore deliver a passing shot up the line that just stayed in for a 4-2 advantage. It looked that momentum would deliver another break in the next game, but Cukierman held of three break points to stay within striking distance. He would shot that resistance again three games later, staving off three match points to pick up the service break that would eventually send the set to a tiebreak.
As with the match, the tiebreak began with a pair of streaks as Rodrigues claimed the first three points and Cukierman the next three. From there, the two traded points as they traded long rallies with Rodrigues inching ahead 6-4 to set up match point. Cukierman held off the first, but could not push back on the second as Rodrigues’ backhand caught him too deep to handle.
With the 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory, Rodrigues advanced to the quarterfinals where he will face Illinois’ Aleksander Kovacevic, who advanced with a three-set win over No. 25 Alexis Galarneau of NC State.
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NCAA Singles Championship 3rd Round
(2) Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. (49) Daniel Cukierman (SoCal) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
