Two Gamecocks Compete in Master’U BNP Paribas Championship
Etienne Jeanneret
REIMS, France – South Carolina men’s tennis senior Casey Hoole and alum James Story (’24) represented their respective countries at the 17th annual 2024 Master’U BNP Paribas Championship in Reims, France from November 29 to December 1.
The two Gamecocks were amongst 30 current and former NCAA student-athletes who played in an eight-nation field consisting of Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Switzerland and the United States. Hoole represented Australia for the second consecutive year while Story played for Great Britain.
These players all represented their countries in a unique format of play where there were two women’s singles matches, two men’s singles matches, one women’s doubles match, one men’s doubles match, and one mixed doubles match. The country that won four of these seven matches was declared the victor and advanced in the tournament.
Team USA was crowned champion of the event for the fifth consecutive year and 12th time all-time while Great Britain took second place and Australia rounded out the podium in third.
On the first day of the tournament, Hoole picked up two wins in doubles matches. In the men’s doubles, he played alongside teammate Jeremy Jin (Florida) against a duo from Belgium. Hoole and Jin battled for three sets, starting off with a tightly contested 7-6(2) win for the first one before dropping the second set 1-6. The two bounced back for the final set with a dominant 10-3 win. Hoole then competed in mixed doubles with Lily Fairclough, defeating a pair from Switzerland 8-2. Story played alongside Finn Bass in men’s doubles against Belgium, seamlessly winning in two sets 6-3 and 6-0. Story also faced Belgium in men’s singles, picking up his second win of the day after going 6-3, 7-6(2).
Hoole and Story faced each other on the second day of the tournament in men’s doubles. Hoole and Jin defeated Story and Bass in two sets, 6-4 and 7-5. Hoole then fell to Bass in men’s singles, 4-6 and 3-6, while Story earned a win against Australia’s Derek Pham (6-4, 3-6, 10-8).
On the final day, Hoole and Jin faced France in men’s doubles. The two claimed the first set 6-3 before dropping the second 0-6. In the tiebreaker they fell 6-10. Hoole went on to play mixed doubles with Petra Hule against another pair from France. The two dominated, winning 6-3 and 6-1. In the finals versus USA, Story played against Michael Zheng in singles, dropping his match after fighting for three sets. He won the first 6-3 before dropping the following two 4-6, 7-10. Story and Bass teamed up for a final doubles match, ultimately falling 5-7 and 2-6 to Sebastian Gorzny (Texas) and Gavin Young.
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