Rodrigues 100th Career Singles Win Highlights Gamecocks Sweep of Razorbacks
Fayetteville, Ark. – No. 6 South Carolina men’s tennis swept the No. 55 Arkansas Razorbacks, 7-0, Sunday in Fayetteville. Junior Daniel Rodrigues earned his 100th career singles win, and sophomore James Story upsetting the nation’s No. 67 player en route to the victory.
“It was great seeing our guys bounce back with a good road win in some tough conditions,” said head coach Josh Goffi. “Arkansas is always a tough place to play. I loved seeing James get a ranked win, but the highlight of the day was seeing [Daniel] earn his 100th career singles victory. Being a part of the Century Club is a major accomplishment, and he’s got time to make it to the top of that list.”
Doubles went quickly with the Gamecocks earning a pair of 6-2 wins from the top two entries in the lineup. No. 13 pair Rodrigues and Connor Thomson got the first win on Court 1, while Story and partner Raphael Lambling clinched the doubles point shortly after from their newly promoted spot at No. 2 in the lineup.
The Gamecocks’ first singles win of the day came from Thomson on Court 3. Thomson put up an early 2-0 lead in his first set that his opponent Oscar Pinto Sansano of Arkansas could never recover from, giving the South Carolina sophomore the first set 6-3. Thomson was dominant in the second set, going on a five-game win streak before allowing Sansano on the board. Thomson finalized the match with another game win to take the second set 6-1.
Lambling scored the next point for the Gamecocks. He was dominant in his first set, taking the win 6-0 in just 16 minutes of play. Lambling took the first game of the second set, but Adrien Burdet wasn’t going down without a fight. Burdet took two games, then Lambling answered with two of his own to go up 3-2. Burdet tied the match and 3-3 and pulled away with another game to take the late lead. Lambling refused to give in, putting up three straight games to take the set 6-4.
Story clinched the match for the Gamecocks with an upset win over No. 67 Aleksa Bucan. Story got off to a slow start, dropping the first set 2-6, but battled back, taking the second set 6-3 to force the match to a third. In the final set, Story ceded the first game but quickly regained the lead. Bucan could not recover, giving Story the 6-4 final-set victory.
Sophomore Toby Samuel added to the team’s score, completing a comeback on Court 2. The Bournemouth, England, native lost the first set 2-6 but dominated the second, blanking his opponent 6-0 to force a third set. The deciding set was even throughout with Samuel serving first and no breaks on either side. The Gamecock finally pulled away with a break at 6-5 to take the final set 7-5.
At the top of the lineup, Rodrigues added another point for the Gamecocks. He battled against No. 107 Alex Reco of Arkansas. Reco took the first set 6-4, but Rodrigues claimed the second 6-3. Reco won the first game of the final set, but Rodrigues responded with three-straight games of his own. Reco could not rally, giving the Gamecock junior the 6-4 win in the final set. The win was Rodrigues’ seventh-consecutive ranked singles win with five of those wins coming over top-35 opponents. His win was also the 100th singles wins of his career, making him just the 10th Gamecock all-time to achieve this mark.
Sophomore Carter Morgan earned the final singles win of the day. The Jacksonville, Fla., native had a close match against Arkansas’ Avery Zavala. The first two sets both had to be settled in tiebreaks with Morgan taking the first one 7-6(3) and Zavala taking the second 7-6(6). With the match already clinched, the third set was played as a 10-point tiebreaker. The final set started out evenly, but Morgan pulled away, taking the final set 1-0(6) to complete South Carolina’s sweep.
This was South Carolina’s second consecutive sweep of the Razorbacks, with the Gamecocks winning the last matchup 7-0 at home. It was the first time in the series that either team has achieved back-to-back sweeps and only the fifth sweep in the history of the series.
Goffi’s squad will continue conference play next weekend, hosting two SEC opponents at Carolina Tennis Center. The Gamecocks will start the weekend against No. 41 Vanderbilt on Friday at 5 p.m. and will host No. 12 Kentucky on Sunday at noon.
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
(6) South Carolina 7, (55) Arkansas 0
Doubles (order of finish:1, 2)
1. (13) Rodrigues/Thomson (SC) def. Reco/Rousset (UA) 6-2
2. Story/Lambling (SC) def. Harrison/Sweeney (UA) 6-2
3. Burdet/Zavala (UA) led Samuel/Hoole (SC) 5-4, unfinished
Singles (order of finish: 3, 4, 5, 2, 1, 6)
1. (14) Rodrigues (SC) def. (107) Reco (UA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Samuel (SC) def. Rousset (UA) 2-6, 6-0, 7-5
3. Thomson (SC) def. Sansano (UA) 6-3, 6-1
4. Lambling (SC) def. Burdet (UA) 6-0, 6-4
5. Story (SC) def. (67) Bucan (UA) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Morgan (SC) def. Zavala (UA) 7-6(3), 6-7(6), 1-0(6)
