Jan. 16, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 36 South Carolina men’s tennis opened its spring season with a decisive 6-1 win over Wofford Saturday afternoon at the USC Indoor Field House. After a dominating doubles sweep, the Gamecocks (1-0) picked up points in three of the first four singles matches to finish with Johannes Pulsfort providing the match-clinching victory.
The Gamecocks’ No. 27 duo of Diego Cubas and Ivan Machado made quick work of Wofford’s Alan Donald and Paul Bartholomy in the No. 1 doubles match, earning a service break in the first game of the match and cruising to an 8-2 victory. The No. 2 team of Ivan Cressoni and Pedro Campos punctuated its 8-3 win over Tinus Van Wyk and Drew Superstein with a Cressoni ace on match point. Pulsfort and Alexander Kostanov closed doubles action with an 8-4 win over Tom Wood and Elliott Farmer in the No. 3 position.
Machado got the singles rolling with an efficient 6-0, 6-1 win over Superstein in the No. 4 spot. Filling in the No. 1 position, Campos overcame a brief hiccup in play in the second set and served up an ace on match point to post a 6-2, 6-3 win over Van Wyk. The Terriers broke through in the No. 3 spot as Paul Bartholomy topped a struggling Cressoni 6-3, 6-2.
After cruising through the first set 6-2, Pulsfort battled in the second set to hold off Donald 6-4 and deliver the match-clinching point for the Gamecocks. South Carolina freshman Alexander Kostanov earned his first collegiate win with a 6-3, 6-3 decision over Michael Schecter in the No. 5 spot. In the final match, Harry Menzies shook off losing the first set to Wood 6-4 to win the second 6-1 and push his match to a 10-point tie-break for the third set. After both players struggled to win their service points, Menzies took control at 4-5 and rolled to a 10-5 win.
South Carolina opens a three-game road trip at No. 43 Georgia Tech on Sun., Jan. 24.
Results
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3)
1. (27) Diego Cubas/Ivan Machado (SC) def. Alan Donald/Paul Bartholomy (WOF) 8-2
2. Ivan Cressoni/Pedro Campos (SC) def. Tinus Van Wyk/Drew Superstein (WOF) 8-3
3. Johannes Pulsfort/Alexander Kostanov (SC) def. Tom Wood/Elliott Farmer (WOF) 8-4
Singles (Order of Finish: 4, 1, 3, 2, 5, 6)
1. Pedro Campos (SC) def. Tinus Van Wyk (WOF) 6-2, 6-3
2. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) def. Alan Donald (WOF) 6-2, 6-4
3. Paul Bartholomy (WOF) def. Ivan Cressoni (SC) 6-3, 6-2
4. Ivan Machado (SC) def. Drew Superstein (WOF) 6-0, 6-1
5. Alexander Kostanov (SC) def. Michael Schecter (WOF) 6-3, 6-3
6. Harry Menzies (SC) def. Tom Wood (WOF) 4-6, 6-1 1-0 (5)
