June 13, 2011

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis watched the 2011 Wachovia Palmetto Championships closely last week as one current and two future Gamecocks figured prominently into the Boys’ 18 results. Freshman Chip Cox captured his third-straight singles title at the event. Gamecock signees Kyle Koch and Ben Barnette also played in the tournament with Koch collecting his fourth doubles title since 2007 and Barnette advancing to the consolation final in singles.

Seeded second in the tournament, Cox dismissed his first two opponents in the bottom half of the bracket with relative ease. In the quarterfinals, the first-year college player fought through a first-set tiebreaker over Matthew Mendez to advance to the semis. There, he handled John Keith 6-2, 6-1. He needed just two additional games in the title match, overcoming Connor Clements 6-3, 6-2 to collect his third title at the event.

In doubles action, Cox teamed with Barnette to earn the tournament’s No. 1 seed. The Gamecock duo rolled into the quarterfinals and squared off with Koch and his long-time partner Joel Cook in the semis. The No. 3 seed at the event, Koch and Cook needed extra games to advance out of the Round of 16, but hit their stride by the time they faced the Cox-Barnette tandem, handing the top seed a 6-4, 6-0 defeat. Koch and Cook went on to win their third Boys’ 18 doubles title and their fourth overall at the event.

As the Boys’ 18 Single top seed, Koch stormed through his first-round singles match 6-0, 6-0 but dropped a hard-fought three-setter in the Round of 16 to drop into the consolation bracket. He yielded just three games over his next two matches to reach the consolation semis, where he was forced to retire due to illness.

It was in that consolation semifinal match that Koch squared off against his future teammate Barnette. The Spartanburg native drew the fourth seed at the tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals of the main draw behind a pair of 6-0, 6-3 victories. Keith knocked Barnette out 6-3, 6-4, sending him to the consolation semifinal against Koch.