Oct. 2, 2013
TULSA, Okla. – South Carolina’s 32nd-ranked doubles team of Tsvetan Mihov and Thiago Pinheiro advanced in the qualifying draw of in the Saint Francis Health System ITA All-American Championships Tuesday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The Gamecocks remaining in the consolation singles bracket lost hard-fought matches, leaving just Mihov to represent the Garnet and Black in the singles main draw.
The Mihov/Pinheiro drew a first-round bye and dominated early in the second round against Wichita State’s Ilija Cuic and Tin Ostajic, yielding just one game in the 8-1 victory. The win set up a third-round contest with Adrien Berkowicz and George Goldhoff of Texas Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. (ET). The Longhorn duo will be taking the court of the first time as withdrawals by other tandems left them with byes in the first two rounds.
In singles, senior Chip Cox lost his second tough outing at the event, as he continues to show the grit that has kept him in South Carolina’s singles lineup from the day he arrived in Columbia. Facing George Washington’s Francisco Dias, Cox won the first set 6-3 and was holding serve throughout the second. Dias eked out a win in the tiebreak, then finished off the win with a 6-3 third set to end Cox’s run in singles action.
Pinheiro and freshman Andrew Schafer both saw their first sets come down to the final points, falling 7-5. Pinheiro struggled in his second set against Louisville’s Sebastian Stiefelmeyer to go down 6-1. Minnesota’s Leandro Toledo closed out Schafer’s dash through pre-qualifying with a 6-3 second set. Kyle Koch was steady but had difficulty winning a handful of crucial points in a 6-4, 6-4 loss to TCU’s Facundo Lugones.
With a win Wednesday morning, Mihov and Pinheiro would need one more to join Cox and Koch in the doubles main draw at the event.
South Carolina Results
Doubles
Qualifying Second Round
(32) Tsvetan Mihov/Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. Ilija Cuic/Tin Ostajic (WSU) 8-1
Singles
Qualifying Consolation First Round
Sebastian Stiefelmeyer (UL) def. Thiago Pinheiro (SC) 7-5, 6-1
Francisco Dias (GWU) def. Chip Cox (SC) 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3
Facundo Lugones (TCU) def. Kyle Koch (SC) 6-4, 6-4
Leandro Toledo (MN) def. Andrew Schafer (SC) 7-5, 6-3
