GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Gators men’s tennis team suffered a 5-2 defeat at the hands of No. 22 South Carolina on Sunday, continuing a challenging stretch for the program. The loss came despite strong individual performances from Tanapatt Nirundorn and Kevin Edengren.
Florida once again struggled in doubles play, dropping the point for the fourth consecutive match. The Gamecocks secured victories on courts one and three, with Lucas Da Silva and Paul Barbier Gazeu defeating Lorenzo Claverie and Henry Jefferson 6-2, and Charlie Swaine and Atakan Karahan besting Kevin Edengren and Andreas Timini by the same score. A match on court two between Pablo Perez Ramos and Tanapatt Nirundorn and South Carolina’s Max Stenzer and Sean Daryabeigi went unfinished with the Gators leading 5-4.
The Gators began singles play with momentum, winning first sets on four of the six courts. Nirundorn delivered the first point of the afternoon for Florida, defeating Gabe Avram 6-4, 6-3. However, South Carolina quickly responded with wins from Paul Barbier Gazeu over Claverie, 6-4, 6-4, and Lucas Da Silva over Henry Jefferson, 6-3, 6-4, to take a 3-1 lead.
Edengren kept the Gators within striking distance, securing a hard-fought victory over Charlie Swaine 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. But Atakan Karahan clinched the match for South Carolina with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over Jeremy Jin. Pablo Perez Ramos ultimately fell to Sean Daryabeigi 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, completing the 5-2 scoreline.
The loss drops the Gators to 2-6 when losing the doubles point. Lorenzo Claverie, a recent addition to the team and a senior, was defeated in singles play, despite being ranked No. 89 in doubles with Jefferson. Claverie joined the Gators for the 2026 spring season after competing on the ATP tour, achieving a career-high singles ranking of 643 and a doubles ranking of 586, according to Florida Gators reporting.
Florida will return to action on Friday, March 6, hosting No. 14 Texas A&M at 5 p.m. EST. The Aggies hold a 14-9 advantage in the all-time series against the Gators and boast three ranked singles players and two ranked doubles pairings.
