June 2, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis signee Yancy Dennis powered through three matches of the qualifying to reach the 32-player main draw of the ITF Futures Event in Winston-Salem, N.C., this week. The incoming freshman returns to the courts for first-round action on Wed., June 3, at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.

Dennis opened qualifying with a 6-4, 7-6 (3) win over Antony Mendes of Brazil. The 18-year-old then came up against Daniel Yun, who just completed his freshman season at Georgia Tech. After dropping the first set 6-2, Dennis dominated the second 6-1. The two battled to a tiebreak in the third set, which Dennis won at crunch time 7-6 (6). In the third round of qualifying, the future Gamecock took on North Carolina signee Anudeep Kodali. Dennis took the first set with a late service break 7-5, but Kodali rallied to win the second set 6-0. With his back against the wall, Dennis was unbowed, pushing past Kodali 6-2 in the third set to earn a spot in the main draw.

Dennis, who has gone 10-7 in ITF Futures Junior events during his career, makes his ITF Futures debut against Ernesto Escobedo on Wednesday. While the two Americans are both 18 years old, Escobedo has been active in ITF events this year, holding an 8-8 record in ATP and ITF Pro Circuit tournaments, including a trip to the finals of the ITF Futures event in Cordoba, Mexico, two weeks ago.

Fans can follow results and live scoring of the Winston-Salem event at: www.ITFtennis.com.