Nov. 22, 2014

South Carolina senior Thiago Pinheiro traveled home to Brazil last week to compete in Liga do Desporto Universitário de Tênis, the winner of which will represent Brazil in the World University Games next summer in Gwangju City, South Korea. He was dominant through the first three rounds and will vie for the title on Sunday.

Playing in his native São Paulo, Pinheiro enjoyed practicing with Brazil’s elite tennis players early in the week and turned that experience into efficient matches early in the tournament. He swept past Andrew Manzano 6-0, 6-0 to open posted the same score against Rodrigo Fraga on Thursday.

In Friday’s quarterfinal, Pinheiro dominated his opponent again, moving into the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Andre Figueira. His toughest test came with the most on the line on Saturday. Facing Eduardo Bencke for a spot in the final, Pinheiro dug deep and delivered a 6-4, 6-4 win to reach Sunday’s final and keep his dream of representing his country alive.