Jan. 13, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – South Carolina men’s tennis opened its spring season at the SEC Indoor Championship with both doubles and singles action on Friday. The Gamecocks amassed six total victories, including sophomore Nick Jones advancing to the singles main draw’s round of 16. Senior Ivan Machado and freshman Thiago Pinheiro picked up the lone doubles victory for South Carolina and will play in the round of 16 on Saturday.
The day began with Machado and Pinheiro battling for a doubles win. With Pinheiro just joining the team this semester, the two Brazilians have quickly developed good chemistry on the court. The Gamecock tandem stretched Vanderbilt’s Aleix DiValerio and Joe Dorn into a tiebreaker, which Machado and Pinheiro claimed 10-8 to advance to the round of 16, where they will face Ole Miss’ Joe Rogers and Adrian Froberg Skogeng on Saturday morning.
In singles action, three Gamecocks advanced out of the opening round of play. Machado was the most efficient, knocking off Georgia’s Garrett Brasseaux 6-1, 6-0 to open the final spring season of his Gamecock career. Freshman Andrew Adams scored his second career win over an SEC opponent, defeating Vanderbilt’s Jeff Offerdahl 6-2, 6-2. Jones rounded out the trio of first-round winners after holding off a late charge from Georgia’s Eric Diaz. The Gamecock sophomore won a routine first set 6-2 but needed a late break of serve to close out the victory, winning the second set 7-5.
Jones kept the winning going with a come-from-behind win in the round of 32. Facing Florida’s Bob van Overbeek, who is ranked No. 69 in the nation, the Welshman dropped the first set 6-3 before storming back to black his opponent 6-0 in the second. Jones finished off the match with a 6-4 third set and will face Kentucky’s Eric Quigley in the round of 16 on Saturday. Machado and Adams suffered straight-set losses in their round of 32 matches.
South Carolina freshman Kyle Koch is also still advancing in the event through the singles consolation bracket. After dropping a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Florida’s Florent Diep, Koch rebounded with a hard-fought win in consolation action. After dropping the first set to Kentucky’s Maks Gold 6-3, the Chapin, S.C., product answered with a 6-3 win in the second set. Koch carried that momentum into the third set, which he won 6-1 to join Chip Cox, Pinheiro and Ben Barnette in the consolation bracket’s round of 16.
Saturday’s play will start with doubles action at 9:30 a.m. Three Gamecock tandems will take the court in the doubles consolation bracket as part of the first set of matches on court.
South Carolina Results
Doubles Round of 32
Ivan Machado/Thiago Pinheiro (SC) def. Alex DiValerio/Joe Dorn (VU) 9-8 (8)
Panav Jha/Eric Quigley (UK) def. Andrew Adams/Chip Cox (SC) 9-7
Alex Musialek/Alejandro Gomez (UK) def. Ben Barnette/Carl Eguez (SC) 8-6
Jonas Ljuten/Nik Scholtz (OM) def. Nick Jones/Kyle Koch (SC) 8-6
Singles Round of 64
Ivan Machado (SC) def. Garrett Brasseaux (GA) 6-1, 6-0
Andrew Adams (SC) def. Jeff Offerdahl (VU) 6-2, 6-2
Nick Jones (SC) def. Eric Diaz (GA) 6-2, 7-5
Florent Diep (UF) def. Kyle Koch (SC) 6-2, 6-2
Nik Scholtz (OM) def. Carl Eguez (SC) 6-3, 6-4
Gonzalez Austin (VU) def. Chip Cox (SC) 7-6, 3-6, 6-2
(98) Jonas Lutjen (OM) def. Ben Barnette (SC) 6-3, 6-1
Frank Carlton (UF) def. Thiago Pinheiro (SC) 6-0, 6-4
Singles Round of 32
Jones (SC) def. (69) Bob van Overbeek (UF) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
(36) Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Machado (SC) 6-3, 6-2
KU Singh (GA) def. Adams (SC) 6-3, 7-5
Singles Round of 32 Consolation
Koch (SC) def. Maks Gold (UK) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
Nathan Pasha (GA) def. Eguez (SC) 6-1, 6-3
