Wimbledon: South Carolina tennis’ dynamic doubles duo to play at All England Club
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina tennis had one of its best seasons in program history this year as the Gamecocks made the Elite Eight and had the team’s best finish since 1989. Now, on perhaps the biggest stage in tennis, the garnet and black will continue playing: the nation’s top-ranked doubles tandem of Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson will be at Wimbledon this summer.
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club will play host, as always, to tennis’ top major championship.
Samuel and Thomson will be part of the 64-team field of doubles participants who will be playing for a grand prize of 600,000 British Pounds, or over $750,000. The total prize money across all Wimbledon events this year is a record 44 Million Pounds, or over $56 Million.
During the college season, Samuel and Thomson were ranked at the top of the ITA doubles polls for the entire year as the dynamic duo went 24-6 despite playing high-level competition each and every match.
The best part for South Carolina tennis coach Josh Goffi? The duo can return next year as they are both just juniors. Samuel is a true junior, while Thomson has an extra year of eligibility granted to him by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Wimbledon trip to the All England Club, while special for any aspiring tennis star, will be extra special for Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson as both players hail from the UK. Samuel is British and Thomson is Scottish.
Samuel and Thomson each have their names etched all over the South Carolina tennis record books, both in doubles competition and singles play.
Wimbledon will begin on Monday, July 3rd with the men’s doubles starting on Wednesday, July 5th. The tournament will last until Sunday, July 16th, but the men’s doubles final will be played on Saturday, July 15th.
All television coverage of Wimbledon will be on ESPN, and viewers can stream every event (even the ones not on broadcast television) on ESPN+.