July 4, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬”South Carolina men’s tennis alumnus Thiago Pinheiro powered through a first-round victory in singles play at the World University Games in Gwangju City, Korea. The Brazilian will be back in action at Jinwol International Tennis Court in doubles on Sun., July 5.

Pinheiro made his World University Games debut against Arief Rahman of Indonesia, and the Brazilian wasted no time establishing an advantage. His 6-3, 6-2 win moved him into the second round where he will take on the event’s No. 11 seed Patrick Thomas Ofner of Austria.

In Sunday’s doubles action, scheduled to begin at 1:30 a.m. ET, Pinheiro and Victor Cruz Morales will take on a pair Americans, Austin Rapp and Martin Redlicki, who just completed their freshman seasons at UCLA. The duo did not play together, but Redlicki put together an impressive inaugural campaign, finishing ranked No. 96 in the nation in singles and No. 19 in doubles.

GamecocksOnline.com for will follow Pinheiro’s progress throughout the event, or follow the 2015 Summer World University Games at www.gwangju2015.com.