Gamecocks’ Singles, Doubles Entries Advance to Round of 16

Champaign, Ill. – No. 1 South Carolina men’s tennis junior Daniel Rodrigues advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Singles Championship with a gritty win over No. 60 Harris Walker of Harvard. He has also advanced to the Round of 16 in the Doubles Championship alongside partner Connor Thomson thanks to the duo’s upset win over the nation’s No. 8 pair from Texas.
 
In singles, Rodrigues got off to a hot start on the day, earning an early break to go up 3-0. The junior then hit a hard lull, giving up five straight games to fall to 3-5. He refused to give in, finally righting his game to go on a four-game run, taking the first set 7-5.
 
The second set started out dead even with Rodrigues serving first and no breaks on either side through the first six games. Walker was first to earn a break in the set after it was tied at three-all and used his momentum to close out the set 6-4.
 
With the match evened, both competitiors came out with renewed vigor. Rodrigues was on first serve but was broken by Walker. The Gamecock immediately responded with a break of his own. The next five games proceeded with each player winning their own service games until Rodrigues finally achieved a timely break when up 4-3 to extend his lead to 5-3. He was finally able to close out the match by winning his final service game to take the set 6-3.
 
The Funchal, Portugal, native now has 20 ranked wins on the season with 11 of them in the top-50. His 20 ranked singles wins are good for second place in the program record book, behind 2019 NCAA Champion Paul Jubb who had 23 during his title-winning season.
 
In the day’s doubles match, Rodriges and sophomore Thomson were dominant, flying through their match in under an hour. The duo battled against No. 8 Eliot Spizzirri and Siem Woldeab of Texas. The Longhorns had first serve but the Gamecocks were there to put on a show, earning breaks on their first two receiving games to go up 4-0. The deficit proved to be too much for the Texas pair and the Gamecocks took the first set 6-2.
 
In the second set, the Longorns again had first serve. They won their sercive game and made an attempt at picking up a second straight game win but the South Carolina pair battled from behind for the hold. Thomson and Rodrigues then earned a break as well as their own service game to go up 3-1. The Gamecocks fought for another hold to make their lead 4-2 and again earned a break to extend the lead to 5-2. Rodrigues was able to serve his way through the final game to take the set 6-2 for the win.
 
The Gamecocks’ appearance in the doubles Round of 16 is the furthest a South Carolina doubles pair has been since 2018 and ties for furthest a doubles pair has gone in program history.
 
Tomorrow’s singles competition will feature Rodrigues facing off against No. 39 Inaki Montez de la Torre of Virginia at a time that will be announced later.  In doubles, Rodrigues and Thomson will face the winner of No. 14 Kenner Taylor and Noah Schachter of Texas A&M versus No. 25 Arthur Ferry and Alexandre Rotsaert of Stanford. Match times will be made available following the conclusion of Tuesday’s action at the NCAA Championships.
 
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
 
NCAA Singles Championship Results
(1) Rodrigues (SC) def. (60) Walker (Harvard) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
 
NCAA Doubles Championship Results
(18) Rodrigues/Thomson (SC) def. (8) Spizzirri/Woldeab 6-2, 6-2