Sunday, 01/31/2010

KNOXVILLEá-áFreshman Alexander Kostanov rallied back from losing a first-set tie-breaker to deliver the match-clinching victory
as No. 43 South Carolina defeated No. 48 VCU 4-2 in the first match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Goodfriend Tennis Center. The
Gamecocks áwon áthe ádoubles ápoint ábut ásplit áthe áfirst áfour ásingles ácontest, áleaving áthe ámatch áin áthe áhands áof áKostanov áand áIvan
Cressoni, both of whom were locked in a three-set battle.

Kostanov opened the match teaming with Johannes Pulsfort in the No. 3 doubles position to claim an 8-2 win over Filip Svensson
and Oscar Perman to decide the doubles point in the Gamecocks' favor after the Nos. 1 and 2 doubles teams split their matches.

Svensson leveled the match with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Pulsfort in the No. 4 singles spot. Pedro Campos and Diego Cubas put the
Gamecocks back on top with consecutive, straight-set victories in the Nos. 2 and 1 singles positions, respectively. Campos got a late
break in the second set to shut down Krisztin Krocsko 6-2, 7-5. Ranked No. 48 in the nation, Cubas followed close behind with a 6-1,
6-4 win over Thibaut Charron.

VCU's Tim Johannsen used a first-set tie-breaker to get in front of Ivan Machado in the No. 3 match then scored a 6-1 win in the
second set to bring the Rams within a point at 3-2.

The ámatch ácame ádown áto áthe álast átwo ásingles áspots, áin áwhich áboth áKostanov áand áCressoni ádropped átheir áfirst ásets áin átie-breakers.
Kostanov leveled his match with Max Wennakoski with a 6-3 win in the second set and was into the third set when Cressoni's 6-2
second-set ávictory ásent áhis ámatch áto áa áthird áset áas áwell. áKostanov áwas ámore áefficient áin áhis ámatch, grabbing a 6-3 win to seal the
Gamecock's second win of the season.

The Gamecocks will play host No. 5 Tennessee, which shutout on No. 53 Utah, on Mon., Feb. 1, at 2 p.m. with the winner earning an
invitation to play in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships at Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va., Feb. 12-15.


Results
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3)                                        Singles (Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 3, 5)
1.ááThibaut ááCharron/Tim ááJohannsen áá(VCU) áádef. áá(27) ááDiego       1.áá(48) Diego Cubas (SC) def. Thibaut Charron (VCU) 6-1, 6-4
Cubas/Ivan Machado (SC) 8-5                                           2.ááPedro Campos (SC) def. Krisztin Krocsko (VCU) 6-2, 7-5
2.ááIvan    Cressoni/Pedro      Campos       (SC)     def.    Krisztin    3.ááTim Johannsen (VCU) def. Ivan Machado (SC) 7-6, 6-1
Krocsko/Camill Salomon (VCU) 8-4                                      4.ááFilip Svensson (VCU) def. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) 6-3, 6-2
3.ááJohannes áááPulsfort/Alexander áááKostanov ááá(SC) ááádef. áááFilip   5.ááAlexander Kostanov (SC) def. Max Wennakoski (VCU) 6-7,
Svensson/Oscar Perman (VCU) 8-2                                           6-3, 6-3
6.ááMatch suspended

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