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Men’s Tennis Hosts No. 4 Texas for SEC Home Opener, Faces Florida on the Road
Men's Tennis  . 

Men’s Tennis Hosts No. 4 Texas for SEC Home Opener, Faces Florida on the Road

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 22 South Carolina men’s tennis team (9-1, 2-0 SEC) hosts No. 4 Texas for its SEC home opener on Friday, Feb. 27, at 1 p.m., before hitting the road again to take on No. 16 Florida on Sunday, Mar. 1, at noon. The matches will be the Gamecocks’ fourth and fifth consecutive ranked opponents.

The home match is slated to take place at the Carolina Outdoor Tennis Center, weather permitting. Parking is limited as the pit is closed and there will be two other sporting events taking place. Fans are encouraged to park in metered spots around the facility or park at Key Road and use the shuttle that will run from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

  • Last time out, South Carolina went 2-0 on the road to open the 2025-26 season’s SEC slate, defeating then-No. 18 Oklahoma and then-No. 29 Arkansas both in 4-3 showings. The victories extended the Gamecocks win streak to six.
  • Against Oklahoma, the duos of Paul Barbier Gazeu & Lucas da Silva and Sean Daryabeigi & Max Stenzer won their doubles matches against the Sooners to put the Gamecocks up early. The Sooners took the lead in singles play, with back-to-back straight-set wins on courts five and four. Gazeu leveled the score with a 7-5, 6-4 victory on court three, but the Sooners reclaimed the lead with a win on court 2. At the top of the lineup, da Silva tied the score at 3-3 after winning in three sets which turned all attention to the bottom of the lineup. Charlie Swaine battled back from a tight first set to take his second and third at 6-4 each, clinching the Gamecock victory.
  • South Carolina won in dramatic fashion against Arkansas as well to remain perfect in conference play. The Gamecocks dropped the doubles point, putting them at a disadvantage heading into singles. The Razorbacks doubled their lead with a victory on court four, but Swaine quickly put the team on the board with a 7-5, 6-4 win. Arkansas extended its lead with a victory on court three, but Daryabeigi responded with a three-set win on court two. Gabe Avram leveled the score at 3-3 following a comeback victory which left the deiciding point to da Silva at the top of the lineup. The senior pulled through with an upset win over No. 18, winning the second set in a tie break and the third 6-4.
  • Following their performances, da Silva and Swaine earned this week’s SEC awards. The honor marked da Silva’s second SEC Player of the Week of the season while Swaine picked up the Gamecocks’ third Freshman of the Week honor this year.
  • Gazeu and da Silva remain undefeated in doubles play this dual match season at 6-0.
  • Da Silva is 6-2 in singles from the top of the lineup while Swaine is 5-1 from the bottom of the lineup.

IN THE RANKINGS

  • In the ITA singles rankings, da Silva leads the Gamecocks at No. 44. Daryabeigi follows at No. 51, and Gazeu rounds it out at No. 70.
  • In the doubles rankings, Gazeu and da Silva are sitting at No. 28, Daryabeigi and da Silva come in at No. 48, and Stenzer and Daryabeigi complete the Gamecocks’ rankings at No. 86.
  • In the newest team rankings released earlier this week, the Gamecocks moved back into the top 25 after falling to No. 34 in the previous release, now ranking No. 22 in the nation.

SCOUTING THE LONGHORNS

No. 4 Texas is 11-3 this season and enters tomorrows match riding a seven-match winning streak which includes four victories over top 20 teams. The Longhorns are currently 2-0 in conference play, coming off a 4-3 victory over then-No. 10 Mississippi State. Additionally, Texas claimed the program’s first ITA Indoors National Championship earlier this month, defeating then-No. 2 Ohio State 4-2. Sebastian Gorzny leads the Longhorns in the ITA rankings at No. 3 holding a 10-1 record during the dual match season, all from the top of the lineup. He is followed by Kalin Ivanovski (25), Sebastian Eriksson (40), and Abel Forger (67). In the doubles rankings, Eriksson & Oliver Ojakaar are No. 12 with an undefeated record of 4-0 followed by Gorzny & Lucas Brown at No. 21 and Gorzny & Lucas Marionneu at No. 25.

SCOUTING THE GATORS

No. 16 Florida is 6-5 this season and has started conference play 0-2. The Gators are coming off losses to then-No. 30 Auburn and then-No. 33 Georgia, and will travel to take on No. 41 Kentucky on Friday, Feb. 27, before hosting the Gamecocks. Henry Jefferson (29), Pablo Perez Ramos (41), Jeremy Jin (46), and Adhithya Ganesan (93) make up the ITA singles rankings for Florida. Tannapatt Nirundorn and Jefferson come in at No. 10 in the doubles rankings, and Lorenzo Claverie and Jefferson round it out at No. 89.

SERIES HISTORY

  • The Longhorns lead the all-time series 1-11, last defeating the Gamecocks 4-1 in Columbia during the 2025 SEC Championship match. Avram earned South Carolina’s lone point of the match, defeating Evan Burnett 6-1, 6-3 on court six.
  • The Gators lead the Gamecocks 34-9 in the all-time series record but South Carolina has claimed the last two victories which both were during the 2025 dual match season – one during regular season and one in the quarterfinals of the SEC Championship.

FOLLOW ALONG

Both matches will be streamed with live scoring available. Links to each can be found on the schedule page. Fans can also follow along via in-match updates on X, @GamecockMTennis.

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

 

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