Nov. 23, 2014

South Carolina men’s tennis senior Thiago Pinheiro won the title at the Liga do Desporto Universitário de Tênis 2014 (LDU) in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and will represent his home country in the 2015 World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea. The Gamecocks’ emotional center drew strength from having his family support him throughout the tournament, in which he lost just nine games in four matches leading to Sunday’s final.

The final against Gustavo Andrade was Pinheiro’s toughest challenge in the event. With the first set going to a tiebreak, Pinheiro powered through to win then kept the pressure on Andrade early in the second set. The Gamecocks’ veteran never let up and won the set 6-1 to earn the right to represent Brazil on an international stage next summer.