Oct. 4, 2013

TULSA, Okla. – South Carolina men’s tennis wrapped up its week-long stay at the ITA All-American Championships Friday afternoon at Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of University of Tulsa. Playing in the consolation brackets of the main draws, the four Gamecocks remaining in the tournament bowed out. Senior Tsvetan Mihov fell in singles then teamed with Thiago Pinheiro to stretch the nation’s 15th-ranked doubles team to a tiebreak. South Carolina’s 26th-ranked doubles team of Chip Cox and Kyle Koch suffered a defeat on Friday as well.

In singles action, Mihov got off to a slow start against Boise State’s Andy Beetles. South Carolina’s 16th-ranked senior dropped the first set 6-2 and could not gain much more traction in the second, falling 6-3 to end his run at the event.

In doubles, Cox and Koch faced UT-San Antonio’s Diogo Casa and Yannick Junger in the first round of the consolation bracket. The Gamecocks were solid early, but saw their opponent surge ahead to an 8-4 victory.

South Carolina’s final remaining entry at the event, Mihov and Pinheiro faced a team familiar to the Gamecocks in Alabama’s Becker O’Shaughnessey and Daniil Proskura, who are ranked No. 15 in the nation. Entering the tournament ranked No. 32 in the nation, the Gamecocks’ tandem matched their Crimson Tide foe game-for-game, forcing a tiebreak to decide the match. Alabama’s more veteran duo thrived down the stretch, winning the match 8-7 (1).

The Gamecocks are back in action on Oct. 17 at the ITA Carolina Regional in Cary, N.C. The singles and doubles champions at that event advance to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., November 7-10.

South Carolina Results

Singles
Main Draw Consolation Second Round
Andy Beetles (BSU) def. (16) Tsvetan Mihov 6-2, 6-3

Doubles
Main Draw Consolation First Round
(15) Becker O’Shaughnessey/Daniil Proskura (AL) def. (32) Tsvetan Mihov/Thiago Pinheiro (SC) 8-7 (1)
Diogo Casa/Yannick Junger (UTSA) def. (26) Chip Cox/Kyle Koch (SC) 8-4