No. 23 Alabama Men’s Tennis Falls to No. 20 South Carolina, 5-2

Sunday, February 21

Columbia, S.C.

11 a.m. CT

Alabama

South Carolina

No. 23 Alabama Men’s Tennis Falls to No. 20 South Carolina, 5-2

2/21/2021 5:23:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Alabama won the doubles point after picking up victories at Nos. 1 and 2, while also winning at No. 5 singles

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 23-ranked Alabama men's tennis team fell at No. 20 South Carolina Sunday afternoon by a score of 5-2. The Crimson Tide is now 8-4 on the season while the Gamecocks go to 6-2.

Alabama won the doubles point with victories by Patrick Kaukovalta and Riccardo Roberto over No. 44-ranked Daniel Rodrigues and Connor Thomson at No. 1 and Gabriel Diaz Freire and Zhe Zhou over No. 59 Raphael Lambling and Phillip Jordan at No. 2. Roberto also picked up a win at No. 5 singles.

Head Coach George Husack Said

"A challenging trip and necessary for us to improve. We are competing well and creating opportunities. Now we must focus our attention on finishing. We will continue to tighten the screws in practice and prepare for another round of SEC tennis next weekend."

#20 South Carolina 5, #23 Alabama 2

Singles

No. 1 #32 Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. Zhe Zhou (UA) 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 #81 Raphael Lambling (SC) def. #89 Edson Ortiz (UA) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 #118 Connor Thomson (SC) def. Patrick Kaukovalta (UA) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
No. 4 Toby Samuel (SC) def. Gabriel Diaz Freire (UA) 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (9-7)
No. 5 Riccardo Roberto (UA) def. Phillip Jordan (SC) 7-5, 6-4
No. 6 Jake Beasley (SC) def. Jeremy Gschwendtner (UA) 5-7, 6-1, 1-0, retired

Doubles

No. 1 Patrick Kaukovalta/Riccardo Roberto (UA) def. #44 Daniel Rodrigues/Connor Thomson (SC) 7-6 (8-6)
No. 2 Gabriel Diaz Freire/Zhe Zhou (UA) def. #59 Raphael Lambling/Phillip Jordan (SC) 6-3
No. 3 Jake Beasley/Toby Samuel (SC) def. Alexey Nesterov/Edson Ortiz (UA) 6-4

Up Next

After opening the SEC season on the road at Florida and South Carolina this weekend, Alabama returns home next weekend to face Kentucky (Friday) and Vanderbilt (Sunday)
The Kentucky match starts at 6 p.m. CT, while the Vanderbilt contest starts at 1 p.m. CT

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