Gamecocks Move on to Second Round of ITA Regional
CARY, N.C. — The South Carolina men’s tennis team began its run at the ITA Carolina Regional Friday. The Gamecocks picked up 10 total wins on the day, including two wins for four of the seven Gamecocks in the tournament.
The two ranked Gamecocks were the most efficient on the court with No. 35 Daniel Rodrigues losing just seven games across his two singles matches and No. 110 Raphael Lambling dropping just six games in a pair of wins.
Freshman Connor Thomson continued his strong fall play with two wins. After a quick 6-1, 6-2 win in the opening round for his 10th win of the season, Thomson picked up a late break to claim the opening set on Elon’s Camilo Ponce then cruised to a 7-5, 6-3 win to advance in the tournament.
Redshirt freshman Phillip Jordan completed the quartet of two-match winner for the Gamecocks with a pair of straight-set wins over his opponents from NC Central and East Carolina.
Sophomore Beau Pelletier split his matches on the day, battling back for a first-round, three-set win over Davidson’s Brooks Green. Pelletier dropped a tight tiebreak in the opening set of his second round match before falling to UNC Wilmington’s Bruni Caula.
Singles Main Draw
First Round
Connor Thomson (SC) def. Gabriel Dias (Win.) 6-1, 6-2
(110) Raphael Lambling [6] (SC) def. Francisco Neto (USCU) 6-1, 6-3
Beau Pelletier (SC) def. Brooks Green (David.) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Phillip Jordan (SC) def. Thanos Spyropoulos (NCCU) 6-2, 6-4
(35) Daniel Rodrigues [2] (SC) def. Seb Harris (G.Webb) 6-1, 6-2
(112) Rrezart Cungu (Wake) def. Thomas Brown (SC) 6-4, 6-3
Second Round
Connor Thomson (SC) def. Camilo Ponce (Elon) 7-5, 6-3
(110) Raphael Lambling [6] (SC) def. Jacob Bicknell (Elon) 6-2, 6-0
Phillip Jordan (SC) def. Wissie Jonker (ECU) 6-2, 6-2
(35) Daniel Rodrigues [2] (SC) def. Mark Dillon (UNC) 6-1, 6-3
Bruni Caula (UNCW) def. Beau Pelletier (SC) 7-6(4), 6-4
Singles Consolation
Thomas Brown (SC) def. Pablo Carranza. (NCAT) 6-0, 6-0
UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS
Singles play will continue Saturday with the main draw third round as well as the second round of the consolation singles. Doubles will also begin with the first and second rounds being played Saturday.
For men’s tennis updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
