Gamecocks Wrap Up First Fall Tournament

 
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis closed out its first tournament of the 2020-21 season with five singles and two doubles wins against Georgia on the final day of the Gamecock Fall SEC Scramble at Carolina Tennis Center. Over the three-day, round-robin event, juniors Daniel Rodrigues and Beau Pelletier both went undefeated in singles. A pair of Gamecock doubles teams – Raphael Lambling/Phillip Jordan and Pelletier/Thomas Brown – did not drop a match either.
 
Rodrigues was the singles champion for the event, and Georgia’s Trent Bryde/Tyler Zink won the doubles title.
 
 
Gamecock Notables

• Across 24 singles matches in the tournament, South Carolina went 14-10 with Rodrigues and Pelletier each going 3-0. Senior Thomas Brown and freshman Toby Samuel each went 2-1 at the event, including wins on the final day against Georgia.
• In 12 doubles matches, the Gamecocks were 9-3. Lambling/Jordan and Pelletier/Brown each went 3-0. The duo of Samuel and Jake Beasley were 2-1, winning their matches on Friday (Tennessee) and Saturday (Kentucky).
• Rodrigues played in one of the top three spots all weekend. After winning a tiebreak in his first set of the season, he went on to yield just five games the rest of the weekend.
• Pelletier may have logged the most court time for the Gamecocks, winning two of his three matches in third sets and playing three tiebreaks across his eight sets on court. On Sunday, he took the opening-set tiebreak then rallied twice to win a tiebreak in the third as well. The junior trailed 0-5 in the final-set tiebreak before rattling off five straight points to tie it up. Georgia’s Britton Johnston knotted it at 6-6 before Pelletier delivered the final two points for the win.
• Brown dropped his season opener, but closed the tournament with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 win on Saturday before powering home a three-set decision on Sunday.
• Samuel lost his college debut Friday morning, but was resilient in winning his matches Saturday, coming back from a set down to win, and Sunday, shaking off a late break that set up a tiebreak by dominating that 7-6 (3).

 
 
Quotable Josh Goffi
“Danny [Rodrigues] has been working hard, fully committed to becoming a real player – what I mean by that is to his best self. He had a major hurdle to overcome as far as bringing what he knows he can bring on a daily basis consistently. He came out, and he absolutely executed almost flawlessly throughout the weekend. He beat some really good players badly this weekend. All that shows is that his commitment is paying off and he’s going to get somewhere.”
 
 
South Carolina is back in action in two weeks, hosting the Gamecock Fall SEC Shootout Oct. 23-25.
 
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
 
 
Gamecock Day 3 Singles Results
Trent Bryde (GA) def. Raphael Lambling (SC) 2-6, 7-6, 6-2
Tyler Zink (GA) def. Connor Thomson (SC) 6-2, 6-4
Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. Philip Henning (GA) 6-0, 6-1
Blake Croyder (GA) def. Phillip Jordan (SC) 6-2, 7-6
Thomas Brown (SC) def. Baptiste Anselmo (GA) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
Toby Samuel (SC) def. Erik Grevelius (GA) 6-2, 7-6 (3)
Beau Pelletier (SC) def. Britton Johnston (GA) 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6)
Jake Beasley (SC) def. Niklas von Hellens (GA) 6-0, 6-3
 
Gamecock Day 3 Doubles Results
Trent Bryde/Tyler Zink (GA) def. Daniel Rodrigues/Connor Thomson (SC) 8-3
Raphael Lambling/Phillip Jordan (SC) def. Blake Croyder/Philip Henning (GA) 8-1
Baptiste Anselmo/Erik Grevelius (GA) def. Toby Samuel/Jake Beasley (SC) 8-5
Beau Pelletier/Thomas Brown (SC) def. Britton Johnston/Niklas von Hellens (GA) 8-4