Women's Tennis . May 28, 2025

Hamner & Carnicella Selected for Inaugural US Open Wild Card Playoffs

ORLANDO, Fla. – Recent graduate Sarah Hamner and rising junior Kaitlyn Carnicella of the South Carolina women’s tennis team were selected to compete in doubles at the inaugural US Open Wild Card Playoffs, announced by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) on Wednesday morning. The event is set to be held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida June 16-18.

The playoffs, featuring the top American collegiate players, will increase the number of American collegiate players that earn US Open wild cards this year as six guaranteed entries are on the line. The winners of the singles and doubles competitions earn US Open main draw singles and doubles wild cards while the men’s and women’s singles runners-up will earn US Open qualifying wild cards.

The top athletes in each section were selected for the event based on their performances at the NCAA Individual Championship this past November. The remainder of the field is made up of players selected by a committee of USTA staff, college coaches and an ITA representative.

Hamner and Carnicella wrapped up the season with a career best No. 7 ITA ranking in doubles. The pair maintained a national ranking throughout the entire dual match season, consistently remaining in the top 3o during the latter half. They posted a 12-8 record including an impressive 8-2 mark against nationally ranked opponents. From the top of the lineup the two were 8-5.

The duo’s highest ranked win of dual match season was over No. 24 of then-No. 3 Texas where Hamner and Carnicella pulled through with a 6-4 victory to clinch the doubles point for the Gamecocks. In the fall, the pair defeated No. 18 DJ Bennett and Ava Hraster of Auburn at the ITA All-American Championships.

Both Gamecocks were named ITA All-Americans in doubles, announced by the organization yesterday.

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

The full fields are below (bolded players automatically qualified):

Men’s Singles

Ozan Baris (Michigan State)

Stefan Dostanic (Wake Forest)

Aidan Kim (Ohio State)

Michael Zheng (Columbia)

Women’s Singles

DJ Bennett (Auburn)

Valerie Glozman (Stanford)

Amelia Honer (UCSB)