Nov. 19, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina head men’s tennis coach Josh Goffi announced that Gabriel Friedrich has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University and play for the Gamecocks. Ranked among the top 35 juniors in the world, Friedrich will begin competing in the 2014-15 academic year.

“Gabriel is probably the most experienced player that we’ve had as he’s played a full ITF Junior schedule around the world,” Goffi said. “Playing in every Grand Slam, his maturity and experience are going to be invaluable to us. If you look at the guys at the top of our lineup right now – Tsvetan Mihov, Andrew Adams, Thiago Pinheiro – they all have that volume of experience, and that’s what we’re looking for from Gabriel. He’s a very good tennis player all-around and, from what I understand, is a very detail-oriented and professional player. We’re looking forward to him joining us.”

An experienced player in both singles and doubles, Friedrich was ranked as high as No. 28 in the world in juniors in his career. His wins include a pair of singles victories at Roland Garros in the 2012 Junior French Championships, a trip to the semifinals of an international tournament in Santa Croce, Italy, and a final appearances in ITF junior events in Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador and his home country, Brazil. Friedrich has played in Futures events on the ITF circuit in 2013, reaching the quarterfinals of the Brazil F3 Futures event at Porto Velho, Brazil, in August and lifting his world ranking to as high as No. 1,029.

Friedrich joins Wood Benton (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman), Thomas Mayronne (Monroe, La./National Connections Academy) and Harrison O’Keefe (Salem, Va./Laurel Springs School), who signed last week, in Goffi’s 2014 signing class.