Coral Gables, Fla. – No. 10 South Carolina men’s tennis kicks off their Spring 2023 season with a trip to Coral Gables, Fla., for the Miami Spring Invite, hosted by the University of Miami. The event will run Fri., Jan. 6 through Sun., Jan 8 at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
The Gamecocks will begin play on Friday at 1 p.m. with one round of doubles, followed by one round of singles at 2 p.m. Saturday will consist of one round of singles at 9 a.m. and one round of doubles at 1 p.m. The invite will conclude on Sunday with a round of singles at 8 a.m. and a round of doubles at noon.
Along with the tenth ranked Gamecocks and host Miami, other participating teams include the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 8 Texas Longhorns.
Seventh ranked Georgia is home to five ranked singles players, including the current No. 1 player, and two ranked doubles pairs. The No. 8 Longhorns currently have four ranked singles player, including the current No. 3 player, and one ranked doubles pair. Host Miami is home to the nation’s No. 73 player Dan Martin.
The Gamecocks return seven players from last season’s squad that made it to the NCAA Round of 16 and finished with a final ranking of No. 10. The team carried that ranking into the new year, having recently been announced as the No. 10 team in the nation in the ITA Top 25 Coaches Poll. This marks the highest preseason ranking in program history.
South Carolina had two individuals ranked in the latest ITA Singles Rankings released Nov. 16 – No. 15 Toby Samuel and No. 56 Casey Hoole. Samuel went 5-1 though the fall season with ranked wins over Nos. 8 and 98. Hoole stacked up an impressive 14-3 record through the fall season and earned the title of ITA Carolina Region Champion.
A pair of Gamecocks also own the top spot in the ITA Doubles Rankings. The duo of Samuel and Connor Thomson went a perfect 7-0 through the fall, including winning the ITA All-American Doubles Championship. Thomson, ended last season in the semifinals of the 2022 NCAA Doubles Championships with partner Daniel Rodrigues and earned the distinction of Doubles All-American.
Returning for a fifth year for the Gamecocks are graduates Jake Beasley and Raphael Lambling. Beasley played with the team through the fall semester, posting a 5-4 singles record and a 9-2 doubles record. The Cumming, Ga., native was named the MVP of the SEC – Big 12 Challenge in November after going a perfect 3-0 in both doubles and singles.
Lambling will be rejoining…