Gamecock GRIT Drives Six Singles Wins at MLK Invite Day 1
ATLANTA – No. 20 South Carolina men’s tennis won six tiebreaks over five singles matches to open the first day of the Georgia Tech MLK Invitational Tournament with six singles wins. Playing the host Yellow Jackets in the round-robin tournament, all three ranked Gamecocks delivered wins to set to the tone at the top of the lineup.
In doubles, two of the four matches were between ranked foes with the higher ranked Yellow Jacket duos claiming both. Sophomore Jake Beasley and first-year freshman Toby Samuel logged the lone doubles win of the day, cruising by Georgia Tech’s Brandon Freestone and Zummy Bauer 6-2.
No. 32 Daniel Rodrigues took on Georgia Tech’s lone ranked singles player at the top of the lineup. The Gamecock sophomore used steady play to take the first set from No. 59 Andres Martin. The two battled to a tiebreak in the second with Rodrigues delivering the key points for his first ranked win of the season.
No. 81 Raphael Lambling and No. 118 Connor Thomson also delivered victories via match-deciding tiebreaks. Lambling’s came in the second against Keshav Chopra after a 6-2 first-set win. Thomson dropped his first set to Marcus McDaniel but rallied to win the next two sets in tiebreaks.
Freshman Toby Samuel stretched his win streak to four matches with his 7-5, 7-6 win over Pablo Schelcher. Phillip Jordan and Thomas Brown also posted wins in the first event of the spring campaign.
The Gamecocks are back in action on Sunday, taking on No. 10 Georgia at 9 a.m.
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
Gamecock Day 1 Results
Doubles
(31) Pablo Schelcher/Marcus McDaniel (GT) def. (59) Raphael Lambling/Phillip Jordan (SC) 7-6
(41) Andres Martin/Keshav Chopra (GT) def. (44) Daniel Rodrigues/Connor Thomson (SC) 6-1
Jake Beasley/Toby Samuel (SC) def. Brandon Freestone/Zummy Bauer (GT) 6-2
Cole Gromley/Brandon McKinney (GT) def. Thomas Brown/Beau Pelletier (SC) 6-1
Singles
(32) Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. (59) Andres Martin (GT) 6-4, 7-6
(118) Connor Thomson (SC) def. Marcus McDaniel (GT) 3-6, 7-6, 7-6
(81) Raphael Lambling (SC) def. Keshav Chopra (GT) 6-2, 7-6
Toby Samuel (SC) def. Pablo Schelcher (GT) 7-5, 7-6
Phillip Jordan (SC) def. Brandon Freestone (GT) 6-3, 7-6
Brandon McKinney (GT) def. Jake Beasley (SC) 6-1, 7-5
Thomas Brown (SC) def. Chen Dong (GT) 6-2, 6-4
