Men’s Tennis Opens Spring with Gamecock Kickoff
Columbia, S.C. – No. 5 South Carolina men’s tennis will begin spring action this weekend with the hosting of the Gamecock Kickoff. The tournament will run Jan. 5-7 at the Carolina Indoor Tennis Center located at 523 Superior Street.
The Gamecocks will compete against players from No. 18 Georgia, Illinois and VCU in a weekend of round robin action. Rounds will be played at 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. each day.
The tournament field includes nine players ranked in the ITA singles rankings with five of them in the top-50. Georgia leads the field with four ranked players, followed by Illinois with three and VCU with two.
South Carolina will be represented by senior Carter Morgan, sophomore Lucas Andrade da Silva and freshmen Jelani Sarr and Sean Daryabeigi. The group of four combined for a total of 33 singles wins in the fall.
Da Silva and Daryabeigi led the group with each having a 10-4 singles record. Da Silva started the season perfect with four consecutive wins at South Carolina’s season opening tournament. He then went on another four-match win streak over the ITA All-American Championships and the ITA Carolina Regionals.
Daryabeigi’s resume featured a ranked win over then-No. 106 Anuj Watane of North Carolina. The Tar Heel claimed the first set but Daryabeigi battled back to claim the win with a pair of 7-5 sets. The freshman tallied a five-match win streak starting during the ITA All-American Championships and running to the quarterfinals of the ITA Carolina Regionals.
Closely following the two was Sarr who went 10-5 in singles play this fall. He began his collegiate career by upsetting No. 48 Luca Staeheli of NC State in a three-set comeback and used his momentum to upset No. 106 Watane in straight sets the next day. His resume also includes a ranked win over Auburn’s No. 65 Alejandro Moreno..
Admission to the Gamecock Kickoff is free and open to the public. Parking will be available at the Carolina Indoor Tennis Center parking lot. Fans not in attendance can view live streaming here.
For all the latest South Carolina men’s tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
Gamecock Kickoff – South Carolina Schedule
Friday, January 5
9:00am – singles
NB 1:00pm – doubles
Saturday, January 6
9:00am – singles
NB 1:00pm – doubles
Sunday, January 7
11:00am – doubles
NB 1:00pm – singles
