No. 20 Gamecocks Start SEC Play with a 5-2 Win Over Alabama
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 20 South Carolina men’s tennis continued its winning streak with a 5-2 victory over No. 23 Alabama at the Carolina Tennis Center. After dropping the tightly contested doubles point, the Gamecocks came back to win three straight singles matches. After the Tide got a point back, Connor Thomson clinched the win with a three-set win in the No. 3 spot.
“Super happy we got through the weekend with a little sweep to start the SEC,” said head coach Josh Goffi after the match. “Heck of a match today; that could have been 4-3 the other way, a couple points here or there and that separated everything. All in all, it was just battles up and down, really. We were pretty convincing in two spots, and everything else was just an absolute war; and we always expect that when we play Bama. For whatever reason, it’s always a 4-3 or a really tightly contested 5-2. I think our guys were up for it. Now, we can get on the road for the week coming up.”
In doubles, Toby Samuel and Jake Beasley kept an early lead over Alabama’s Alexey Nesterov and Edson Oritz to win their match 6-4. When Alabama claimed the win at the No. 2 position, the top of the lineup was in a tiebreak, which would settle the point. No. 44 Daniel Rodrigues and Connor Thomson and Alabama’s Patrick Kaukovalta and Riccardo Roberto had been in a battle throughout the match, and the tiebreaker went to extra points with the Tide taking the 7-6 (6) victory.
In singles, Rodrigues blanked Alabama’s Zhou in the first set at the top of the order then carried that energy into his second set where he only lost two games. The sophomore’s powerful crosscourt forehand closed out another efficient SEC victory for the No. 32 player in the country. Soon after, Lambling wrapped up commanding 6-2 wins in both of his sets over No. 89 Edson Oritz of Alabama. This was Lambling’s fourth ranked matchup of the season, bringing his record against ranked opponents to 3-1.
On court six, Beasley lost a tight first set to Alabama’s Jeremy Gschwendtner, 5-7, but turned things around quickly in the second set to win 6-1. In the third, the match was 1-0 when Gschwendtner had to forfeit due to injury, allowing Beasley to win the third point for the Gamecocks.
The Crimson Tide got on the board in singles with a win in the No. 5 spot, but the Gamecocks would not be denied.
In his first SEC singles action, Thomson brought immense energy through his match against Patrick Kaukovalta. He set an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, winning the first set 6-2. Kaukovalta took the second set by the same score, setting up the third in which Thomson showed his Gamecock GRIT to deliver the 6-3 victory and clinch the team victory.
The final match on the court featured three sets and two tiebreaks. Samuel went 6-4 in the first set, but Gabriel Diaz Freire of Alabama came back to win the second set 7-6 (2). The third set went to a tiebreak, where Samuel pushed back hard after being down early to win 7-6 (7) and bring in the final point for South Carolina.
The Gamecocks continue SEC play when they travel to College Station to take on Texas A&M on Fri., Feb. 26.
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
(20) South Carolina def. (23) Alabama 5-2
Doubles (Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1*)
1. Patrick Kaukovalta / Riccardo Roberto (UA) def. (44) Daniel Rodrigues / Connor Thomson (SC) 7-6 (6)
2. Gabriel Diaz Freire / Zhe Zhou (UA) def. (59) Raphael Lambling / Phillip Jordan (SC) 6-3
3. Toby Samuel / Jake Beasley (SC) def. Alexey Nesterov / Edson Oritz (UA) 6-4
Singles (Order of Finish: 1, 2, 6, 5, 3*, 4)
1. (32) Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-0, 6-2
2. (81) Raphael Lambling (SC) def. (89) Edson Oritz (UA) 6-2, 6-2
3. (118) Connor Thomson (SC) def. Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
4. Toby Samuel (SC) def. Gabriel Diaz Freire (UA) 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (7)
5. Riccardo Roberto (UA) def. Phillip Jordan (SC) 7-5, 6-4
6. Jake Beasley (SC) def. Jeremy Gschwendtner (UA) 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 retired
