Men’s tennis drops road match to South Carolina

Box Score
Men’s tennis drops road match to South CarolinaMen’s tennis drops road match to South Carolina
David Gray/Auburn Tigers

COLUMBIA, S.C.- No. 35 Auburn fell to South Carolina by a 6-1 score on Monday afternoon at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia. Freshman Alex Frusina provided the Tigers’ point in the match with a straight set win at the singles No. 2 position.

In doubles, Frusina and Joey Phillips battled back from an early deficit to tie the match on court two against Jelani Sarr and Atakan Karahan at four. Sarr and Karahan then earned a crucial break in the next game before holding in the final game to win 6-4. The Gamecocks then picked up another win on court one to claim the doubles point and take the early 1-0 advantage.

South Carolina then earned straight set victories at the No. 6 singles position and the No. 4 singles position to take a 3-0 lead in the match. On court three, South Carolina graduate student Connor Thomson defeated Billy Blaydes 6-3, 6-3 to clinch the team victory for the Gamecocks.

After the team win was secured, Frusina earned two breaks early in his opening set over Lucas Andrade Da Silva to take a 5-1 lead before later claiming it 6-3 on court two. The Auburn freshman then took that momentum into the second set by winning three of the first four games. Leading 5-3, Frusina gave up a break on a deciding point before bouncing back to earn a break in the final game and winning 6-3, 6-4.

The win improved Frusina’s singles record to 12-4 overall and 7-1 in dual matches.

The Tigers will host their SEC home opener on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT against Vanderbilt. Admission to the match at the Yarbrough Tennis Center will be free for fans. Live video and live scoring of the match will also be available online at AuburnTigers.com.

 

South Carolina 6, #35 Auburn 1

Singles Results:

  1. Casey Hoole (SC) def. #124 Will Nolan (AUB) 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 1-0 (10-6)
  2. #112 Alex Frusina (AUB) def. Lucas da Silva (SC) 6-3, 6-4
  3. #110 Connor Thomson (SC) def. Billy Blaydes (AUB) 6-3, 6-3
  4. #68 Sean Daryabeigi (SC) def. Joey Phillips (AUB) 6-3, 6-2
  5. Atakan Karahan (SC) def. Nicholas Heng (AUB) 6-2, 6-4
  6. Gabe Avram (SC) def. Mats Bredschneijder (AUB) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles Results:

  1. Connor Thomson/Lucas da Silva (SC) def. #9 Billy Blaydes/Will Nolan (AUB) 6-2
  2. Atakan Karahan/Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Alex Frusina/Joey Phillips (AUB) 6-4
  3. Casey Hoole/Sean Daryabeigi (SC) vs. Thomas Kennedy/Nicholas Heng (AUB) 5-2, unfinished

 

Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1; Singles: 6,4,3,5,2,1