ORLANDO, Fla. — South Carolina sophomore Daniel Rodrigues will play for the NCAA Singles National Championship Friday, making him the second Gamecock in as many tournaments to reach the title match.
In Thursday’s semifinal, No. 2 Rodrigues faced his highest ranked opponent of the tournament in No. 21 Adrian Boitan of Baylor. For the first time in the tournament, Rodrgiues fell behind an early break in the first set, but he rallied quickly to get to 2-2. The two traded breaks again to get to 4-4, and the two kept that pace into the first-set tiebreak. There, Rodrigues thrived, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead and extended it to 6-1. The rally at set point went to Rodrigues as Boitan sent his forehand wide.
Rodrigues and Boitan held serve through the first three games of the second set with the Gamecock sophomore getting the first opportunity to surge ahead. In Boitan’s second service game, Rodrigues built a Love-40 lead. Baylor’s sophomore staved off the first two break points, but double-faulted on the third to fall behind 1-3 and then retiring from the match.
The championship match will be an all-SEC affair as Florida’s Sam Riffice advanced out of the other semifinal match.