Gamecock Doubles Undefeated on Day One of Wake Forest Invite
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – South Carolina men’s tennis wrapped up the first day of the Wake Forest Fall Invitational, sending all three doubles to finals and three singles to quarterfinals in the main draw stage.
Jelani Sarr advanced to the quarterfinals after beating Jake Krug of Duke to begin singles action for the Gamecocks. Sarr took the first set 6-4 and won a tightly contested second set, 8-6, in the tiebreaker. The sophomore played Harry Thursfield from Wake Forest in the quarterfinals of the A1 singles draw.
Atakan Karahan picked up a singles win as well, coming out on top against Clemson’s Marko Mesarovic after fighting for three sets. After dropping the first 4-6, Karahan rallied back 7-6 (7-2) for the second set. He secured the win in the third set, defeating Mesarovic 6-3.
Gabe Avram won his match against Matias Iturbe of UNC Charlotte to claim the third singles win of the day for the Gamecocks. Avram started off slow, falling 2-6 in the first set. The freshman managed to bounce back for the following two sets, going 6-3 and 7-5.
Max Stenzer dropped his match to Joseph Phillips of Auburn, 4-6 and 2-6. The German native will play in the west draw section of the A1 stage for quarterfinals.
Connor Thomson and Casey Hoole defended their No. 1 seeding of the A1 draw stage, narrowly defeating Jake Kennedy and Nicholas Heng of Auburn to kick off doubles action. The Gamecock duo won 7-6 (7-5) in the quarterfinals match. Thompson and Hoole continued to build on their success in the semifinals, picking up a dominant win against Jamison Nicholas and Lincoln Battle of Cleveland State University after going 6-1. The two are set to compete against Duke sibling duo Jake Krug and Connor Krug tomorrow. After these wins, Thomson has officially set a new program record for the Gamecocks. The graduate student now holds the program record for singles and doubles victories, tallying 198 total throughout his time with South Carolina.
Like Thomson and Hoole, Stenzer and Karahan took their opponents to a tiebreaker set in the A2 draw stage of quarterfinals. The Gamecocks walked away with the win, defeating Ty Switzer and James Hopper of University of Virginia 7-4. In a semifinals rival matchup, Stenzer and Karahan defeated Romain Gales and Marko Mesarovic of Clemson 6-4. The South Carolina duo will play Matias Iturbe and Vasco Prata of UNC Charlotte in the finals.
Jelani Sarr and Lucas Andrade da Silva earned two strong wins to advance to the finals of the A3 stage. The two picked up a sweep against Jack Curtis and Veljko Krstic of Elon, winning 6-0 before defeating Remi Dugardin and Teddy Truwit of Duke 6-1. The Gamecocks will face Clemson’s Wissam Abderrahman and Matt Pitts tomorrow.
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockMTennis) for the most up-to-date information on the men’s tennis season.
Singles
A1 East Draw
Joseph Phillips (AU) def. Max Stenzer (SC) 6-4, 6-2
Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Jake Krug (DUKE) 6-4, 7-6(6)
A2 East Draw
Gabe Avram (SC) def. Matias Iturbe (UNCC) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
Lucas Andrade da Silva advanced due to bye
A3 East Draw
Atakan Karahan (SC) def. Marko Mesarovic (CLE) 4-6, 7(7)-6(2), 6-3
Doubles
Al East Draw
Quarterfinals: Thompson/Hoole (SC) def. Jake Kennedy/Nicholas Heng (AU) 7(7) – 6(5)
Semifinals: Thompson/Hoole (SC) def. Nicolas Jamison/Lincoln Battle (CSU) 6-1
A2 East Draw
Quarterfinals: Stenzer/Karahan (SC) def. Ty Switzer/James Hopper (UVA) 7(7) – 6(4)
Semifinals: Stenzer/Karahan (SC) def. Romsin Gales/Marko Mesarovic (CLE) 6-4
A3 East Draw
Quarterfinals: (82) Sarr/da Silva (SC) def. Jack Curtis/Veljko Krstic (ELON) 6-0
Semifinals: (82) Sarr/da Silva (SC) def. Remi Dugardin/Teddy Truwit (DUKE) 6-1
