ORLANDO, Fla. – No. 13 South Carolina men's tennis sophomore Daniel Rodrigues advanced to the NCAA Singles Championship second round with a straight-sets win at the USTA National Campus Sunday morning. The No. 2 seed in the tournament, Rodrigues will face No. 47 Jakub Wojcik of USF in the second round Monday.
Rodrigues went up an early break in both sets of his victory over No. 69 Dimitri Badra. In the first set, the ETSU sophomore broke back in the fourth game, but after holding serve to level the set at 3-3, Rodrigues rolled through the next three games to claim the set 6-3 after a series of strong backhands had Badra on the ropes on the second break point.
In the second set, Rodrigues put the pressure on early, taking a 4-0 lead on a vicious forehand passing shot. Badra pushed back, winning the next four games to get back on serve. He pressured Rodrigues in his next service game as well, stretching it to deuce before the Gamecock sophomore held for a 5-4 advantage. Rodrigues used that momentum in the next game, when a cross-court backhand set up triple match point and the eventual 6-4 victory to move him into the second round.
Connor Thomson also made is NCAA Singles Championship debut on Sunday, facing No. 101 Zeke Clark of Illinois. The Gamecocks' returning freshman opened the match with a service break, but struggled on his serve all afternoon, falling to Clark 6-2, 6-1.
For all the latest South Carolina men's tennis information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).
NCAA Singles Championship 1st Round
(2) Daniel Rodrigues (SC) def. (69) Dimitri Badra (ETSU) 6-3, 6-4
(101) Zeke Clark (ILL) def. (22) Connor Thomson (SC) 6-2, 6-1
