University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Carolinas' ITA Regionals
Clay Donato Wins ITA Regional Singles Title
October 19, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Oct. 19, 2009
CHAPEL HILL - Clay Donato defeated South Carolina's Diego Cubas 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4 to claim the 2009 ITA Carolinas Regional singles crown Monday afternoon.
Donato's win was the final UNC victory of a successful fall showing for the entire Tar Heels team.
"I'm certainly happy for Clay," said Paul. "It's tough to get through this tournament; there are a lot of hard matches."
Donato began the day with a semifinal match against teammate Ryan Noble, one of three UNC players in the final four of the singles draw. After beating Noble, the senior from Toronto, Ontario faced Cubas, who defeated Carolina freshman Jose Hernandez in the other semifinal.
Donato jumped out to a one-set lead over Cubas, but lost the second-set tiebreaker to force a third set. Donato took a 4-2 lead in the third, but Cubas won the next two games to pull even. After breaking USC's top player to take a 5-4 lead, Donato held serve to clinch the win and the singles title. Donato served out the match when Cubas' backhand sailed long on match point.
Donato will travel to Yale University in New Haven, Conn. next month to play in the ITA National Individual Indoor tournament as a singles entry. Duke's Reid Carleton and Henrique Cunha will also participate after qualifying by winning the ITA Regional doubles crown.
"I see signs of improvement, but we've still got a lot of work to do," said UNC head coach Sam Paul. "We're pleased with the path that we're on, but there is still a lot of room for improvement to be the best team we can be."
Donato becomes the first Tar Heel to play in the ITA National Indoors since Raian Luchici in 2005. Luchici received an automatic invitation to the event after making the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championships earlier in the fall.
Players Mentioned
