No. 16 Men’s Tennis Defeats Alabama 5-2 on the Road

Tuscaloosa, ALA. – The No. 16 South Carolina men’s tennis team (12-5, 5-4 SEC) defeated No. 49 Alabama 5-2 on Friday night in Tuscaloosa to remain undefeated on the road and pick up their second straight SEC win.

South Carolina secured the doubles point with wins on courts two and three to take early control of the match. Max Stenzer and Atakan Karahan struck first with a strong 6-3 victory in their first time playing together this season. With the initial win on the board, the remaining two courts were locked at 5-5, but Gabe Avram and Charlie Swaine managed to pull away down the stretch for a 7-5 win to clinch the point in their first time playing at the No. 2 position. The top court featuring the No. 8 pair of Lucas da Silva and Paul Barbier Gazeu went unfinished but the Gamecocks were leading the No. 33 duo 6-5. 

The Gamecocks carried that momentum into singles, claiming five first set victories to put themselves in a strong early position. Swaine set the tone with a dominant 6-1 opening set before cruising to a 6-1, 6-2 win to be the first off the court. The Crimson Tide cut back on South Carolina’s lead after picking up a win on court two to only trail 2-1 but No. 15 Lucas da Silva added a ranked win on court one, defeating No. 79 Vit Kalina 6-3, 6-1 to extend the lead to 3-1. 

Stenzer closed out his match 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) to secure another point for South Carolina and officially clinch the match at 4-1. Avram followed through with a solid 6-3, 6-3 performance to push the score to 5-1. The match ended on court two, where No. 105 Gazeu fell to No. 94 Matic Kriznik in three sets, giving Alabama its second point of the match. 

The Gamecocks round out their Alabama road trip on Sunday, March 29 with a 1:00 p.m. (ET) match against No. 23 Auburn.

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

(16) South Carolina 5, (49) Alabama 2

DOUBLES (order of finish: 3, 2)

1.  No. 8 Da Silva/Gazeu (SC) led. No. 33 Vit Kalina/Andrii Zimnokh (UA) 6-5, unf
2.  Swaine/Avram (SC) def. Hazratwala/Kriznik (UA) 7-5
3.  Stenzer/Karahan (SC) def. Olar/Loh (UA) 6-3

SINGLES (order of finish: 6,3,1,4,5,2)

1. No. 15 Lucas da Silva (SC) def. No. 79  Vit Kalina (UA) 6-3, 6-1
2. No. 94 Matic Kriznik (UA) def. No. 105 Paul Barbier Gazeu (SC) 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
3. No. 109 Andrii Zimnokh (UA) def. Atakan Karahan (SC) 6-1, 6-2
4. Max Stenzer (SC) def. Yoshka Sborowsky (UA) 6-1, 7-6 (2)
5. Gabe Avram (SC) def. Rohan Hazratwala (UA) 6-3, 6-3
6. Charlie Swaine (SC) def. Brendan Loh (UA) 6-1, 6-2