Jones and Machado Finish in Round of 16 at ITA Carolinas Regional

Oct. 16, 2011

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – South Carolina’s Ivan Machado and Nick Jones dropped their Round of 16 matches at the ITA Regional at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center Sunday afternoon. It was the Gamecocks’ last fall tournament.

Machado struggled with his serve throughout the match but held off Wake Forest’s Adam Lee for much of the match with good returns and good movement around the court. The two traded breaks midway through the first set, but Machado’s movement delivered a second break for a 4-2 lead. The Gamecock senior took advantage of his opponent’s miscues in the final game to collect another break for a 6-2 win. In the second set, Machado again broke first but Lee claimed it right back to level the set a 2-2. After Machado took a 5-3 lead with a solid backhand, cross-court passing shot, Lee was the beneficiary of a double fault on break point to again get back on serve at 5-4. Machado had a chance to break back, but Lee rose to the challenge, fending off the loss. The set went to a tiebreaker where three double faults, including one on set point, pushed Machado to a 5-7 defeat. The Brazilian broke to open the third set and looked poised to reclaim his advantage with a second break in the third game of the set, but once again Lee fought off a couple of break points to stay within striking distance. The set got back on serve 2-2, and both players fought for their service games through 5-4. In the final game, Machado fell behind early but extended his game by staving off two break points. Lee finally prevailed, though, with a Machado volley into the net.

Nick Jones dropped his match to No. 4 Henrique Cunha of Duke 6-1, 6-2.

The Gamecocks do not play again until kicking off the spring semester with the SEC Indoor Championships in mid-January.