Commanding Win Moves Rodrigues into Round of 16

ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 13 South Carolina men’s tennis sophomore Daniel Rodrigues continued to live up to his No. 2 seed in the NCAA Singles Championship win a straight-sets win that moved him into the round of 16 at the event being played at the USTA National Campus.
 
Facing No. 47 Jakub Wojcik of USF, Rodrigues was in a match marked by long rallies in which the Gamecock sophomore often outlasted his older opponent. The two traded served breaks early, but Rodrigues used well placed groundstrokes to keep Wojcik under pressure and closed the first set 6-3. The momentum stayed with Rodrigues as his relentless physicality buried Wojcik deep behind the baseline as the Gamecocks’ top singles player did not yield a game in the final set to advance in the tournament.
 
In the round of 16, Rodrigues will face No. 49 Daniel Cukierman of Southern Cal who scored upsets over the No. 12 seed and the No. 37 player en route to the third round.
 
NCAA Doubles Championship play began on Monday with No. 13 Rodrigues and Connor Thomson faced Georgia Tech’s Marcus McDaniel and Andres Martin, who are ranked No. 19. The two teams traded games through the first seven games of the first set when the Yellow Jacket tandem took advantage of ill-time double faults to surge ahead 5-3 then take the set 6-3. In the second set, the Gamecocks dropped their opening service game and struggled to regain their footing as McDaniel/Martin closed out the 6-3 win to move on to the round of 16.
 
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NCAA Singles Championship 1st Round
(2) Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. (47) Jakub Wojcik (USF) 6-3, 6-0
(19) Marcus McDaniel/Andres Martin (GT) def. Rodrigues/Thomson (SC) 6-3, 6-3