April 5, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 17 South Carolina battled at every position but came up short in a 5-1 loss to No. 34 LSU in SEC men’s tennis action this afternoon at Sam Daniel Tennis Center. The Gamecocks (15-6, 3-5 SEC) narrowly dropped the doubles point and struggled to find their footing early in singles play. For the second-straight match, only sophomore Johannes Pulsfort recorded a singles victory, winning his No. 5 match in straight sets over Julien Gauthier.
The doubles began well for South Carolina with an 8-3 win by the No. 2 team of Pedro Campos and Ivan Cressoni. The duo got a break in the Tigers’ first service game and did not look back. The Gamecocks were behind a break early in the Nos. 1 and 3 matches, however, and it was the Tigers that consolidated those leads to take an early 1-0 lead in the match.
Facing the country’s No. 6 player in Michael Venus, No. 52 Diego Cubas got a break early to take a 2-1 lead in the first set. Venus got back on top when Cubas dropped his serve a second time to fall into a 5-6 hole, but the Gamecock junior forced a tie-breaker with another break. As Venus won the tie-breaker 7-5, the Tigers also went up a set in the Nos. 2, 3 and 6 matches.
While Cubas dropped his second set 3-6 to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead, Pulsfort was closing out a dominant 6-2, 6-2 decision over Gauthier on Court 5 to cut the Gamecocks’ deficit in half. After dropping an early service game in each set, Campos fell 4-6, 4-6 to James Cluskey at No. 2 singles to bring the Tigers within a point of victory.
The Gamecocks would not go quietly, though, as Jaime Cuellar and Cressoni both battled back to win their second sets at Nos. 3 and 6, respectively. Ivan Machado was in a battle at No. 4 as neither he nor his opponent Neal Skupski could hold serve over the final three games of the first set to bring their set to a tie-breaker. Fighting through an injury, Machado fell behind 1-4 in the tie-breaker but fought back to even at 6-6. The freshman fought off three set points before succumbing 9-11.
Cuellar fell behind quickly in his third set, but Cressoni was fighting back from an 0-2 deficit in his. Machado continued his fight through various treatments from the athletic trainer, earning back one of his early service breaks, but could not break through Skupski’s serve a second time and lost the second set 4-6, giving Tigers the decisive 4-1 lead in the match.
Sebastian Carlsson finished out his 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over Cuellar in the No. 3 spot, but increasing rain forced the suspension of the Cressoni/Mark Bowtell match at No. 6 with the Gamecock junior up 4-2 in the final set.
South Carolina heads out for its final road trip of the regular season, traveling to No. 27 Auburn for a 3 p.m. (ET) match on Fri., April 10, before heading to No. 15 Alabama for a 3 p.m. (ET) outing on Sun., April 12.
No. 34 LSU 5, No. 17 South Carolina 1
Doubles: (Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1)
1. (8) Michael Venus/Neal Skupski (LSU) def. (28) Diego Cubas/Ivan Machado (SC) 8-6
2. Pedro Campos/Ivan Cressoni (SC) def. Sebastian Carlsson/Julien Gautheir (LSU) 8-3
3. James Cluskey/Jonathon Tragardh (LSU) def. Jaime Cuellar/Johannes Pulsfort (SC) 8-5
Singles: (Order of Finish: 1, 5, 2, 4, 3)
1. (6) Michael Venus (LSU) def. (52) Diego Cubas (SC) 7-6 (5), 6-3
2. James Cluskey (LSU) def. Pedro Campos (SC) 6-4, 6-4
3. Sebastian Carlsson (LSU) def. Jaime Cuellar (SC) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
4. Neal Skupski (LSU) def. Ivan Machado (SC) 7-6 (9), 6-4
5. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) def. Julien Gauthier (LSU) 6-2, 6-2
6. (123) Ivan Cressoni (SC) led Mark Bowtell 3-6, 6-1, 4-2 suspended
