April 11, 2001

Columbia, SC –
The South Carolina men’s tennis team lost to the Duke Blue Devils, 7-0 today a the Sam Daniel Tennis Center. The Gamecocks did not make it easy for the 3rd-ranked team in the country, as they pushed the top three singles matches to three sets each.
South Carolina hung in with the Blue Devils in the doubles at numbers one and two. Duke was able to gain the third match with ease and the duo of Phillip King and Ramsey Smith held on at number one over Seth Rose and David Nelson to gain the 1-0 advantage.

In singles, Duke’s No. 28 Andres Pedroso won in straight sets over USC’s Marcus Westman, 6-2, 6-1. Duke also gained points at number five and six singles in straight sets. The top half of the order pushed each match to the limit. Seventh-ranked Phillip King ended 17th-ranked Guillaume Legat’s 12 match win streak, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. The second match seemed to have ninth-ranked Ramsey Smith of Duke in control yet Gamecock sophomore Seth Rose fought back in the second set to extend the match.

Ramsey pulled out the win 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. The final match of the day had 14th-ranked Marko Cerenko coming back to defeat South Carolina’s David Nelson, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).

South Carolina will travel to Tennessee on Friday, April 13, 2001 for a 2p.m. match and then it is on to Vanderbilt for Sunday’s 12 p.m. match.

#3 Duke 7 #28 South Carolina 0

Singles
No. 7 Phillip King (Duke) def. No. 17 Guillaume Legat (USC) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
No. 9 Ramsey Smith (Duke) def. Seth Rose (USC) 6-3, 7-5, 6-3
No. 14 Marko Cerenko (Duke) def. David Nelson (USC) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
No. 28 Andres Pedroso (Duke) def. Marcus Westman (USC) 6-2, 6-1
Alex Bose (Duke) def. Carl Wermee (USC) 6-2, 6-1
Yorke Allen (Duke) def. Rodrigo Pacheco (USC) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles
King/Smith (Duke) def. Rose/Nelson 8-6
Yani/Cerenko (Duke) vs. Legat/Westman (USC) susp. 6-5
Pedroso/Bose (Duke) def. Wermee/Sherazi (USC) 8-1