March 7, 2010
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 41 South Carolina men’s tennis swept the doubles for the second-straight match but fell to No. 52 Arkansas at George M. Billingsley Tennis Center. Two of the Gamecocks’ three doubles wins came over nationally-ranked duos, but only sophomore Ivan Machado managed to turn that momentum into a singles victory as he won in straight sets in the No. 4 position.
Seniors Pedro Campos and Diego Cubas were once again quick out of the gate with an 8-4 win in the No. 1 doubles position, knocking off No. 26 Christopher Nott and Dmitry Lebedev in just the Gamecock duo’s second match playing together. Ivan Cressoni and Alexander Kostanov posted their second-straight 8-5 win of the weekend, handing No. 56 Taylor King and Bradwin Williams the loss in the No. 3 spot to seal the doubles point for the Gamecocks. Machado and Johannes Pulsfort closed out the sweep with a tight 8-6 win over Matthew Hogan and Matt Walters.
Machado wasted little time turning his doubles success into a singles victory for a 2-0 Gamecock lead. The young Brazilian stormed past Nikolas Zogaj 6-4, 6-1 in the No. 4 spot. Lebedev got the Razorbacks on the board with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kostanov in the No. 3 position, and Walters took advantage of a first-set tiebreaker victory to close out Cressoni 7-6, 6-2 in the No. 6 match, leveling the team event 2-2.
Gregoire Lehmann used a late service break in the second set to topple Pulsfort 6-4, 7-5 in the No. 5 spot, leaving the match on the racquets of the teams Nos. 1 and 2 players. In the No. 2 match, Campos and Hogan split the first two sets, extending their matching into a decisive third set. Nott, ranked No. 57 in the country, won the first set over Cubas 6-4, but neither player could hold onto the necessary break in the second set, forcing a tie-breaker. As that cranked up, Campos had jumped on top of Hogan with a service break to lead 3-0. Before Campos could register the point for the Gamecocks, though, Nott closed out Cubas in the No. 1 match tie-breaker to deliver the win for the Razorbacks.
South Carolina returns to Columbia for its next two matches, beginning Fri., March 12, against No. 25 Alabama. The match at Maxcy Gregg Tennis Center will begin at 2 p.m.
Results
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2)
1. Diego Cubas/Pedro Campos (SC) def. (26) Christopher Nott/Dmitry Lebedev (ARK) 8-4
2. Ivan Machado/Johannes Pulsfort (SC) def. Matthew Hogan/Matt Walters (ARK) 8-6
3. Ivan Cressoni/Alexander Kostanov (SC) def. (56) Taylor King/ Bradwin Williams (ARK) 8-5
Singles (Order of Finish: 4, 3, 6, 5, 1)
1. (57) Christopher Nott (ARK) def. (65) Diego Cubas 6-4, 7-6 (4)
2. Pedro Campos (SC) led Matthew Hogan (ARK) 6-4, 3-6, 3-0 DNF
3. Dmitry Lebedev (ARK) def. Alexander Kostanov (SC) 6-3, 6-4
4. Ivan Machado (SC) def. Nikolas Zogaj (ARK) 6-4, 6-1
5. Gregoire Lehmann (ARK) def. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) 6-4, 7-5
6. Matt Walters (ARK) def. Ivan Cressoni (SC) 7-6 (4), 6-2
