Gamecocks Drop Close Match to No. 4 Kentucky

Columbia, S.C. – No. 19 South Carolina men’s tennis suffered a narrow 3-4 loss to No. 4 Kentucky on Friday evening. The Gamecocks dropped a close doubles point and claimed singles wins on three of the six courts in the loss.

In doubles, the Gamecocks struck first with the freshman duo of Sean Daryabeigi and Jelani Sarr claiming a strong 6-2 win at the No. 3 position. It wasn’t long after that the nation’s No. 9 pair of JJ Mercer and Joshua Lapadat evened things up with a 6-4 win from the top of the lineup.

The decision came to the No. 2 pairing where Toby Samuel and Carter Morgan were down 1-5. The Gamecock duo refused to go down easy though and rallied to take the next five games and tie 5-5. They then suffered an untimely break while serving to fall 5-6 and Kentucky was able to close out the match 7-5 to clinch the doubles point.

In singles play, Samuel was first to claim a singles point with his win over No. 35 Taha Baadi. The Gamecock claimed the first set 6-3 thanks to a late break and breezed through his second set 6-2 to win.

The next three point went to Kentucky with the Wildcats claiming wins on Courts 6, 2, and 3 to clinch the match.

Remaining matches played out with Lucas Andrade da Silva tallying a cosmetic point for the Gamecocks. He dropped his first set 3-6, but fought back to take his second set in a lengthy tiebreaker 7-6(9). With the match already clinched, the final set was played as a ten-point tiebreaker that Da Silva came out on top of 10-6.

Sarr also claimed a win on the day, his also in a three-set comeback. After dropping the first set 4-6, Sarr battled back to take the second 7-5. In the final set, things were even throughout, forcing a tiebreak for the decision. In the breaker, Sarr allowed his opponent just one point to win it 7-1 and claim the match.

The men’s tennis team will be in action next on Sunday, April 7, hosting Vanderbilt at noon. The Gamecocks will recognize their senior class 15 minutes prior to the start of the match.

For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).

(4) Kentucky 4, (19) South Carolina 3

Doubles (order of finish: 3, 1, 2)

1. #9 JJ Mercer/Joshua Lapadat (UK) def. Lucas da Silva/James Story (SC) 6-4
2. Jack Loutit/Taha Baadi (UK) def. Toby Samuel/Carter Morgan (SC) 7-5
3. Sean Daryabeigi/Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Jaden Weekes/Charlelie Cosnet (UK) 6-2

Singles (order of finish: 1, 6, 2, 3, 5, 4)

1. #19 Toby Samuel (SC) def. #35 Taha Baadi (UK) 6-3, 6-2
2. #100 Joshua Lapadat (UK) def. James Story (SC) 6-2, 6-4
3. Jaden Weekes (UK) def. Sean Daryabeigi (SC) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
4. Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Charlelie Cosnet (UK) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1)
5. Lucas da Silva (SC) def. Jack Loutit (UK) 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 1-0 (10-6)
6. Christophe Clement (UK) def. Carter Morgan (SC) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1