Men's Tennis . April 18, 2024

Men’s Tennis Upsets Alabama to Advance to SEC Quarterfinals

Baton Rouge, La. – No. 24 South Carolina men’s tennis earned a 4-2 upset win over No. 19 Alabama in its first round of action at the SEC Tournament on Thursday. The Gamecocks claimed the doubles point and were able to take three points in singles for the win.

In doubles, the Gamecocks debuted a new lineup with Toby Samuel and James Story playing together for the first time. The duo proved to be a strong one after they took down No. 38 Enzo Aguiard and Zach Foster 6-2 to record the first victory of the day.

South Carolina was then able to clinch the point from the No. 3 position where Casey Hoole and Sean Daryabeigi played together for just the second time. The pair clinched the point with a dominant 6-1 win.

In singles, Hoole again sat out of the lineup due to ongoing injury so Daryabeigi filled in at the No. 3 position where he was first to register a win. The freshman earned a ranked win over No. 117 Andrii Zimnokh in straight sets 6-3, 6-0. The win is Daryabeigi’s third of his career and first since upsetting No. 52 Joseph Wayand of NC State in early February.

The next two points went to the Crimson Tide to tie things up at 2-2 with Lucas Andrade da Silva falling to No. 110 Aguiard and Carter Morgan falling to Foster.

No. 15 Samuel was able to regain the lead for the Gamecocks with his victory from the top of the lineup. He took down No. 32 Filip Planinsek 7-5, 6-4 for his 14^th consecutive singles win. The win ties Samuel for his longest career win streak. He previously has a 14-match streak from January 31-April 22 of 2021.

The final two matches on were both in third sets with Story splitting 3-6, 6-4 against Matias Ponce de Leon on Court 2 and Jelani Sarr splitting 7-5, 0-6 with Roan Jones on Court 5.

The two Gamecocks were both battling but it was Story who earned the comeback clinch. In the final set, Story claimed a late break to win the final set 6-3, clinching the match.

The Gamecocks now advance to the quarterfinals where they will face No. 15 Mississippi State on April 19, at 3:00 p.m. ET. There will not be any streaming for the match, however live scoring will be available here.

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

(24) South Carolina 4, (19) Alabama 2

Doubles (order of finish: 1, 3)

James Story/Toby Samuel (SC) def. #38 Enzo Aguiard/Zach Foster (UA) 6-2
#51 Filip Planinsek/Andrii Zimnokh (UA) vs. Jelani Sarr/Lucas da Silva (SC) 5-1, unfinished
Casey Hoole/Sean Daryabeigi (SC) def. Matic Dimic/Roan Jones (UA) 6-1

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