Thomson Named SEC Player of the Week

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Graduate student Connor Thomson earned the Gamecocks’ first Southeastern Conference weekly award of the 2024-25 season, being named SEC Player of the Week as announced by the league on Wednesday afternoon.

Kentucky’s Antoine Ghibaudo was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week.

South Carolina men’s tennis began conference play with a pair of matches at home, hosting No. 19 Alabama and No. 35 Auburn on Feb. 22 and 24 respectively. The Gamecocks upset both programs by a solid margin to move to 2-0 in SEC play.

Across both matches Thomson was undefeated, picking up two singles and two doubles wins. The Scotland native paired up with Lucas da Silva against Alabama and Auburn, upsetting two ranked duos and delivering the doubles clinch both times.

Against the Crimson Tide, Thomsom and da Silva took down the No. 41 duo in the country 6-4 to provide the Garnet & Black with an early lead after clinching the doubles point. Thomson went on to defeat his opponent in singles, shutting out Matias Ponce De Leon 6-0 for the first set before following up with a 7-5 score for the second to secure the first singles win of the match.

The graduate student was a key component in South Carolina’s match against Auburn, securing the doubles point and overall clinch of the match. Thomson and da Silva topped the No. 9 doubles pair in the country with a 6-4 showing. In singles Thomson advanced the Gamecocks to a 4-0 lead over the Tigers to officially win the match after a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Thomson has a 4-2 singles record in dual matches going into the weekend. In doubles he is 3-1 with da Silva and the two are riding on a three-game win streak.

The No. 47 Gamecocks continue SEC play on the road for the next three matches beginning with No. 31 Kentucky on Sun., March 2 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).