Men's Tennis . February 22, 2025

Gamecocks Take Down No. 19 Alabama to Open Conference Play

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina men’s tennis team began SEC play on Saturday afternoon with a 4-1 upset win over No. 19 Alabama at home. The Gamecocks clinched the doubles point from the No. 1 position following a ranked win over the No. 41 pair in the NCAA and ultimately secured the win with a clinch delivered by Lucas da Silva.

South Carolina capitalized early with a 6-2 win in doubles from Casey Hoole and Sean Daryabeigi in the No. 3 position. Atakan Karahan and Jelani Sarr trailed Damien Nezar and Adrii Zimnokh from the No. 2 position 1-4 but were able to close the gap to 2-4 after winning the next game without conceding a point. The Tide advanced to 5-2 after mirroring the Gamecocks with a love game before Sarr and Karahan responded by narrowing the deficit to 3-5. The two battled to a deuce in the next game but ultimately dropped the match 3-6.

The doubles point deciding factor came down to court 1 where Connor Thomson and da Silva were facing No. 41 Matic Kriznik and Filip Planinsek. The Gamecocks started off strong, leading 3-1 before the Kriznik and Planinsek won the next three consecutive games to tie it up 3-all. The two duos exchanged the next couple points before Thomson and da Silva went on a two-game run to officially clinch the doubles point and grab their first ranked win of the season, earning an early 1-0 lead for the South Carolina.

The beginning of singles action was shaky for the Gamecocks as the Crimson Tide picked up first set wins on four courts. The two first set wins for the Garnet & Black came from Thomson who shut out his opponent with a 6-0 victory and Daryabeigi who had a 6-1 showing. After dropping their first sets, Avram, Karahan and da Silva bounced back with wins to force deciding sets. No. 110 Thomson extended the Gamecocks lead to 2-0 over the Tide after battling to a tightly contested 7-5 win, fending off a comeback from his opponent who was down 1-5.

Casey Hoole dropped his match 1-6, 3-6 to No. 23 Filip Planinsek which provided Alabama with its first point of the day. No. 68 Daryabeigi defeated Andrii Zimnokh in a three-set comeback 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 to get the Gamecocks within one of clinching.

The next point was contested on courts 2 and 6, both in tight decider sets. Avram fended off his opponent on court 6, preventing the Crimson Tide from securing its next point after closing the gap to 5-5 from a 1-4 deficit. This set up da Silva to deliver the 4-1 clinch after topping No. 59 Roan Jones in a three set comeback 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. The win marked da Silva’s second ranked victory of 2025.

The Gamecocks continue SEC play at home, hosting No. 35 Auburn on Mon., Feb. 24 at 1:00 p.m.

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

South Carolina 4, (19) Alabama 1

Doubles (order of finish: 3,2,1)

Connor Thomson/Lucas da Silva (SC) def. #41 Matic Kriznik/Filip Planinsek (UA) 6-4
Damien Nezar/Andrii Zimnokh (UA) def. Jelani Sarr/Atakan Karahan (SC) 6-3
Casey Hoole/Sean Daryabeigi def. Roan Jones/Matias Ponce De Leon (UA) 6-2

Singles (order of finish:3,1,4,2)