Men’s Tennis Falls to No. 18 South Carolina in a Thriller

Sunday, January 18

12:00 P.M.

Columbia University

South Carolina

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Lem Photography

Men’s Tennis Falls to No. 18 South Carolina in a Thriller

1/18/2026 4:21:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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Lions youth gets baptism by fire against a top-25 opponent

NEW YORK – The 10th-ranked Columbia men's tennis team got its first real test of the spring season on Sunday, hosting No. 18 South Carolina at the Philip & Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center. After dropping the doubles point, the Lions battled but ultimately came up short, as the Gamecocks won 4-3.

Playing without Michael Zheng, who has advanced to the second round of the Australian Open, Columbia (1-1) relied on seniors Nicolas Kotzen and Sachin Palta to lead its four underclassmen. Kotzen defeated No. 80 Lucas Andrade da Silva 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. While Palta made quick work of Sean Daryabeigi, winning in straight-sets 7-6(7-2), 6-1.

South Carolina (3-0) took control of the match, capturing the doubles point with wins at court one and court two. The Gamecocks duo of da Silva and Barbier Gazeu ran away with their match on court two, defeating Palta and Jordan Chang 6-1.

The Lions evened things up on court three when Thanaphat Boosarawongse and Abhishek Thorat defeated Atakan Karahan and Cole Henceroth 6-3. With that match tied 2-2, Columbia's duo broke serve to make it 4-3 and closed out the match, winning the final two games.

The deciding match between the 31st-ranked duo of Sean Daryabeigi and Max Stenzer came down to a thrilling tiebreaker. Kotzen and Andrew Ena battled and had match point three times, but could not put away the Gamecocks, who rallied back to win the point 7-6 (12-10).

With the doubles point in hand, South Carolina took a 2-0 lead in the match early when No. 104 Max Stenzer defeated Jung Hee You in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.

Columbia rallied back to tie the match thanks to wins from Palta and Aditya Govila. Govila's win on court six was his second career singles win. He defeated Charlie Swaine, 6-1, 7-6(7-2).

South Carolina regained the momentum when No. 55 Paul Barbier Gazeu held on to defeat Boosarawongse in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(7-3). Boosarawongse did not make it easy; however, trailing 2-4 in the second, he forced a tiebreaker, which he ultimately lost.

Kotzen tied the match up with his win over da Silva. After falling to da Silva in the second set, he took control in the third and held on for the 6-4.

In the deciding match, Columbia received another tremendous performance from one of its talented first-year players. Thorat captured the opening set, winning 6-1. Karahan evened the match in the second, winning 6-4 to force a third set. Trailing 4-2, Thorat broke Karahan's serve and held serve to tie the match at 4-4. The two sides traded barbs with Karahan eventually winning 7-6(7-2) in the tiebreaker.

Columbia will return to action on Friday, January 23, when it hosts Illinois in the opener of the ITA Kickoff. Florida and Kentucky will participate in the event. Friday's match against the Illini is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start.

RESULTS
Singles
1. #52 Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. #80 Lucas Andrade da Silva (SC) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
2. #65 Sachin Palta (COL) def. Sean Daryabeigi (SC) 7-6(7-2), 6-1
3. #55 Paul Barbier Gazeu (SC) def. Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL) 6-4, 7-6(7-3)
4. Atakan Karahan (SC) def. Abhishek Thorat (COL) 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(7-2)
5. #104 Max Stenzer (SC) def. Jung Hee You (COL), 6-4, 6-2
6. Aditya Govila (COL) def. Charlie Swaine (SC), 6-1, 7-6(7-2)

Doubles
1. #31 Sean Daryabeigi/Max Stenzer (SC) def. Nicolas Kotzen/Andrew Ena (COL) 7-6(12)
2. Lucas Andrade da Silva/Paul Barbier Gazeu (SC) def. Sachin Palta/Jordan Chang (COL), 6-1
3. Thanaphat Boosarawongse/Abhishek Thorat (COL) def. Atakan Karahan/Cole Henceroth (SC) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1 ); Singles (5,2,6,1,4 )

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