COLUMBIA, S.C. —  The Florida men's tennis team conclude their SEC tournament journey after falling 4-1 to No. 13 South Carolina on Friday evening at the Carolina Tennis Center. The Gators dropped the doubles point and couldn't find momentum in singles, dropping three matches to the Gamecocks.

UF struggled in doubles play trailing early after No. 50 Jelani Sarr and Atakan Karahan defeated Adhithya Ganesan and Jeremy Jin 6-2. The Gamecocks secured the point with a 6-2 victory from No. 3 Lucas da Silva and Connor Thomson over No. 12 Tanapatt Nirundorn and Henry Jefferson.
 
The Gamecocks' first singles point came on court five, where Sarr defeated Nirundorn 6-2, 6-3. Shortly after, the Orange and Blue responded with a straight set win of their own. Jefferson took the first set 7-6 (8-6) and left little room for doubt in the second posting a 6-2 victory to cut into the lead 1-0.
 
The Gamecocks extended the lead to 3-1 with a win on court six. Freshman Ben Weintraub battled Gabe Avram and fell 6-4, 6-4.
 
The match was clinched in a thriller featuring No. 124 JanMagnus Johnson and No. 119 Sean Daryabeigi. The first set went into a tiebreak with Daryabeigi coming out on top 7-6 (7-5). Johnson responded in the second set leaving Daryabeigi scoreless in a 6-0 effort to force an extra set. The final set was a back and forth battle, but Johnson could not hold on falling 6-4.
 
Singles competition
1. #20 Connor Thomson (SC) vs. #47 Adhithya Ganesan (UF) 6-4, 2-6, 4-5, unfinished
2. Lucas da Silva (SC) vs. #70 Jeremy Jin (UF) 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 4-4, unfinished
3. #119 Sean Daryabeigi (SC) def. #124 JanMagnus Johnson (UF) 7-6 (7-5), 0-6, 6-4
4. Henry Jefferson (UF) def. Atakan Karahan (SC) 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
5. Jelani Sarr (SC) def. Tanapatt Nirundorn (UF) 6-2, 6-3
6. Gabe Avram (SC) def. Ben Weintraub (UF) 6-4, 6-4


Order of finish: 5, 4, 6, 3

Doubles competition
1. #3 Lucas da Silva/Connor Thomson (SC) def. #12 Tanapatt Nirundorn/Henry Jefferson (UF) 6-2
2. #50 Jelani Sarr/Atakan Karahan (SC) def. Adhithya Ganesan/Jeremy Jin (UF) 6-2
3. Sean Daryabeigi/Max Stenzer (SC) vs. Kevin Edengren/Ben Weintraub (UF) 4-4, unfinished

Order of finish: 2, 1

ITA RANKINGS
As a team, Florida sits at No. 32 in the ITA rankings. Three Gators are ranked in singles competition: Adhithya Ganesan at No. 47 Jeremy Jin at No. 70, and JanMagnus Johnson at No. 124. UF also has two ranked doubles pairs featuring Tanapatt Nirundorn and Henry Jefferson at No. 12, followed by Nirundorn and Ganesan at No. 82.

FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: X | Facebook | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators