Friedrich and Dennis Advance to Round of 16
May 24, 2018
NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships
- Tournament Central
- NCAA Singles Bracket
- NCAA Doubles Bracket
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — No. 31 Yancy Dennis and Gabriel Friedrich (8-3), South Carolina’s highest ranked doubles pair, now sit just one victory from All-America status after a 6-3, 7-5 win over 20th-ranked Carlos Divar and Michael Kay of Georgia Tech on Thursday evening at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.
On the second day of the NCAA Individual Championships, No. 40 Friedrich dropped his round of 32 singles match losing 6-4, 6-1 to seventh-ranked Borna Gojo of Wake Forest. Sophomore Paul Jubb also fell in the second round of the singles championship with a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Ohio State’s sixth-ranked Mikael Torpegaard.
Friedrich and Dennis, who avenged a 6-4 loss to Divar and Kay from back on Feb. 18, become the fourth duo in program history to advance to the round of 16.
Dennis/ Friedrich (SC) vs Divar/ Kay (GT)
South Carolina fell behind early but broke back quickly to even the first set at 2-2 before holding to pull ahead 3-2. Carolina won four straight points to go ahead 4-3 and then took six straight points over the final two games to win the first set 6-3.
The Gamecocks missed several opportunities early in the second set in which both teams held serve through the first five games. The pair nearly picked up a break on deuce point in the very first game but an out-of-bounds call went to Georgia Tech to give Divar and Kay the 1-0 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets’ pair picked up the first break of the set to go up 4-2 and then held to go ahead 5-2. Friedrich and Dennis went on a tear to get back in the set, winning 12 of 14 points to even the set at 5-5.
The Gamecocks capped off the comeback with a second-straight break to go up 6-5 and closed out the match by winning another deuce point to take the set 7-5.
Jubb (SC) vs Torpegaard (OSU)
Jubb grabbed early momentum in the match by winning a deuce point to hold serve and go up 1-0 but sixth-ranked Torpegaard went on to win the next five games. Jubb fought back to 4-5 in the opening set but was unable to pull even, dropping the first set 4-6 to start the match.
The second set mirrored the first to start as Jubb won the opening game before falling behind 1-4. Jubb picked up a break to make it 2-4 and held serve to get within a game, but Torpegaard went on to win back-to-back games to clinch the match with a 6-3 second-set win.
Friedrich (SC) vs Gojo (WF)
Friedrich picked up a break to start the match and went ahead 2-0 before Gojo came storming back to win the next five games. Friedrich responded with another break to get to 4-5 but ultimately dropped the set 4-6.
Trailing 0-4 with Gojo serving in the second set, Friedrich battled to deuce point but was unable to gain any momentum, falling behind 0-5. The senior would hold serve to make it 1-5 before Gojo clinched the match with a 6-1 win in the second.
UP NEXT
Dennis and Friedrich advance to face the nation’s No. 2 pair, North Carolina’s William Blumberg and Robert Kelly, in tomorrow’s round of 16 at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex at 2:30 p.m.
For men’s tennis updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
