Gamecocks Dominate Day 2 of Georgia Tech MLK Invite
ATLANTA – No. 20 South Carolina men’s tennis dominated SEC-rival Georgia on the second day of the Georgia Tech MLK Invitational Tournament, sweeping the three ranked matchups at the top of the singles lineup. The round-robin tournament’s featured matchup between the Gamecocks and No. 10 Bulldogs delivered on the drama with two three-set matches and five sets going to tiebreaks.
The spotlight match featured No. 32 Daniel Rodrigues and No. 9 Tyler Bryde. The two split the first two sets in tiebreaks – the first to Rodrigues, the second to Bryd. Rodrigues shook off the second-set disappointment quickly, overpowering Bryde 6-0 in the third to deliver the highest ranked victory of his Gamecock career.
No. 81 Raphael Lambling took on No. 18 Philip Henning, his highest ranked opponent since November 2020. In a show of Gamecock GRIT, the sophomore delivered in the biggest moments, winning tiebreaks in both sets for the highest ranked win of his career.
The third ranked Gamecock, No. 118 Connor Thomson, was the first of the trio to finish with his 6-1, 7-5 win over No. 73 Tyler Zink. The win lifted Thomson’s career record against ranked opponents to 5-4.
The two teams split the four doubles matches contested with the Gamecocks’ No. 44 team of Rodrigues and Thomson posting an upset of No. 20 Philip Henning and Blake Croyder.
The Gamecocks are back in action on Saturday, taking on Georgia Southern 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 2 Results
Doubles
(8) Trent Bryde/Tyler Zink (GA) def. (59) Raphael Lambling / Phillip Jordan (SC) 6-3
(44) Daniel Rodrigues / Connor Thomson (SC) def. (20) Philip Henning/Blake Croyder (GA 6-3
Jake Beasley / Toby Samuel (SC) def. Billy Rowe/Erik Grevelius (GA) 6-3
Baptiste Anselmo/Britton Johnston (GA) def. Thomas Brown / Beau Pelletier (SC) 6-4
Singles
(32) Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. (9) Tyler Bryde (GA) 7-6 (0), 6-7 (2), 6-0
(81) Raphael Lambling (SC) def. (18) Philip Henning (GA) 7-6 (0), 7-6 (2)
(118) Connor Thomson (SC) def. (73) Tyler Zink (GA) 6-1, 7-5
Toby Samuel (SC) def. Blake Croyder (GA) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
Baptiste Anselmo (GA) def. Phillip Jordan (SC) 6-0, 6-3
Jake Beasley (SC) def. Billy Rowe (GA) 7-6 (1), 6-2
Erik Grevelius (GA) def. Thomas Brown (SC) 6-1, 6-3
Beau Pelletier (SC) def. Britton Johnston (GA) 6-7 (1), 7-5, 1-0 (6)
