Sarr Leads Gamecocks at ITA All-Americans

TULSA, Okla. – South Carolina men’s tennis opened play at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., with freshman Jelani Sarr scoring a pair of victories in prequalifying at LaFortune Park on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Lucas da Silva was the first on court for South Carolina, facing Oklahoma’s Mark Mandlik. A tough tiebreak loss in the first set put da Silva on the back foot, and Mandlik powered to a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory.

Sarr righted the ship for the Gamecocks, dominating his first-set tiebreak against Robin Parts of San Diego State before cruising in the second set for a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win. In the second round, he quickly dispatched Arkansas’ Foster Rogers 6-3, 6-1 to set up a showdown with Luis Carlos Alvarez Valdes of Grand Canyon on Sunday.

Senior Carter Morgan closed out the day with a tough three-set loss. He handled Hugo Salmeron of Kennesaw State in the first set 6-3, but saw the Spaniard fight back to take the 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

In pre-qualifying consolation action on Sunday, Morgan will face Columbia’s Sachin Palta, and da Silva will take on Dante Carlos Teramo of UT-Arlington.

Live streaming for pre-qualifying (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) and qualifying (Oct. 2-3) rounds will be available here. The main draw (Oct. 4-8) will be broadcast by Cracked Racquets and is available on its YouTube page.

For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).

ITA All-American Championships Results
Prequalifying Round 1
Mark Mandlik (Okla.) def. Lucas da Silva (SC) 7-6 (4), 6-1
Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Robin Parts (SDSU) 7-6 (2), 6-2
Hugo Salmeron (KSU) def. Carter Morgan (SC) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4

Prequalifying Round 2
Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Foster Rogers (ARK) 6-3, 6-1