No. 20 South Carolina Drops Road Match at No. 16 Wake Forest
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – No. 20 South Carolina men’s tennis fell 4-3 to No. 16 Wake Forest at the Wake Forest Tennis Center Sunday afternoon. The Gamecocks claimed the doubles point and Toby Samuel picked up his first career dual-match singles win, but the Demon Deacons got tough wins at the top of the order to deliver the win.
Doubles team Toby Samuel and Jake Beasley played in the No. 2 spot in the lineup for the first time in a dual match this spring. The duo were the first to finish their match with a commanding 6-2 win. Not far behind was No. 44 Daniel Rodrigues and Connor Thomson, who delivered the doubles point with a 6-3 win in the No. 1 spot.
Samuel carried his momentum from doubles into his singles match in the No. 3 spot. He had strong 6-2 win in the first set and fought back from an early deficit to win the second set 7-5.
In the No. 4 spot, Phillip Jordan fought hard against Wake Forest’s Filippo Moroni. After dropping the first set 6-7 (5), Jordan came back to win the second set 7-6 (3). The two played a super tiebreak to wrap things up, resulting in Jordan winning 1-0 (8) and earning the third point for the Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks continue their ACC play on the road later this week at Clemson on Fri., Feb. 5, at 5 p.m.
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
(16) Wake Forest def. (20) South Carolina, 4-3
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 1*)
1. (44) Daniel Rodrigues / Connor Thomson (SC) def. Henri Squire / Robert Maciag (WF) 6-3
2. Toby Samuel / Jake Beasley (SC) def. Eduardo Nava / Adam Ambrozy (WF) 6-2
3. Siddhant Banthia / Matthew Thomson (WF) vs. Thomas Brown / Phillip Jordan (SC) 5-4 DNF
Singles (Order of Finish: 6, 3, 5, 1, 2*, 4)
1. Henri Squire (WF) def. (32) Daniel Rodrigues (SC) 7-6, 7-6
2. Eduardo Nava (WF) def. (118) Connor Thomson (SC) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
3. Toby Samuel (SC) def. Siddhant Banthia (WF) 6-2, 7-5
4. Phillip Jordan (SC) def. Filippo Moroni (WF) 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 1-0 (8)
5. Robert Maciag (WF) def. Jake Beasley (SC) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. (92) Rrezart Cungu (WF) def. Thomas Brown (SC) 6-2, 6-2
