Gamecocks Compete In Tournament Semifinals

Sept. 23, 2017

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Three Gamecocks reached the semifinals of their singles brackets as South Carolina men’s tennis continued play across a pair of tournaments Saturday. Gabriel Friedrich and Francisco Cerundolo advanced in their brackets at the Gator Ranked +1, while Thomas Mayronne reached his semifinal at the Ivy Plus.

Saturday at the Gator Ranked +1 began with doubles, with Cerundolo and Friedrich competeing as a team and Paul Jubb teaming up with Mississippi State’s Strahinja Rakic. The Gamecock duo took on Florida’s McClain Kessler and Chase Perez-Blanco, but was unable to push through to the championship, falling 8-6. Jubb’s doubles team also fell just short of the championship with an 8-4 loss to Johannes Ingildsen (Florida) and Brandon Lancaster (Louisville).

In the singles competition, both Friedrich and Cerundolo battled for a spot in the championship. Friedrich faced Giovanni Oradini of Mississippi State, bouncing back from a tough 7-5 first-set loss to take the second 6-1. His bid came up short in the final set, which Oradini claimed 6-1. Cerundolo also got off to a strong start, winning his first set 6-3, and fighting through to a tie breaker in the third set. However, he was unable to seal the victory and lost to Tennessee’s Timo Stodder 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

At the Ivy Plus in Princeton, N.J., Mayronne claimed the win in his first match of the day over Tennessee’s Luca Wiedenmann (6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-4). In the semifinals, Mayronne came up short against Florida’s Jordan Belga, 6-3, 6-1.

Both Cerundolo and Friedrich will compete in consolation matches for third place Sunday at 9 a.m. Cerundolo will play Scott Jones from Tennessee, and Friedrich will take on Yuval Soloman of Wake Forest. Follow @GamecockMTennis for live updates of both matches.