DES MOINES, IOWA - The Drake men's tennis team opened its dual campaign with a bang as the Bulldogs registered a 6-1 victory past UMKC on Saturday (Jan. 29) at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

Drake swept the doubles competition with the duo of sophomores Ryan Drake (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) and Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) clinching the point earning an 8-5 decision over David Heckler and Serge Ristivojevic at No. 3.

The Bulldogs extended the advantage in singles on the strength of a 6-0, 6-2 victory by sophomore Anis Ghorbel (Sfax, Tunisia) versus Gustavo Guerin at No. 4.

Freshman Robin Goodman (Cambridge, England) pushed the margin to 3-0 after defeating Abdulrahman Alawadhi, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 5.

Clinching the match and securing the first career coaching triumph for first-year head coach Evan Austin was junior Jonathan Hadash (Lapid, Israel), who bested Heckler at the No. 6 slot, 6-0, 6-2.

Drake also garnered victories from sophomore James McKie (Edinburgh, Scotland) and Erasmus at the Nos. 2 and 3 positions, respectively.

McKie downed Grant Fleming, 6-1, 6-4, while Erasmus bettered Ristivojevic, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).

Drake closes out its two-match homestand entertaining Nebraska-Kearney on Sunday (Jan. 30) at 3:00 p.m.

DRAKE (1-0) DEF. UMKC (0-1), 6-1

JAN. 29, 2011 • ROGER KNAPP TENNIS CENTER

SINGLES:

No. 1 Nino Hasandedic (UMKC) def. Mauricio Ballivian (DU), 6-7 (4), 6-4, 10-8

No. 2 James McKie (DU) def. Grant Fleming (UMKC), 6-1, 6-4

No. 3 Jean Erasmus (DU) def. Serge Ristivojevic (UMKC), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)

No. 4 Anis Ghorbel (DU) def. Gustavo Guerin (UMKC), 6-0, 6-2

No. 5 Robin Goodman (DU) def. Abdulrahman Alawadhi (UMKC), 6-2, 6-4

No. 6 Jonathan Hadash (DU) def. David Heckler (UMKC), 6-0, 6-2

Order of Finish: 4,5,6,2,3,1

DOUBLES:

No. 1 Ballivian/Ghorbel (DU) def. Fleming/Hasandedic (UMKC), 8-6

No. 2 McKie/Goodman (DU) def. Alawadhi/Guerin (UMKC). 8-2

No. 3 Ryan Drake/Erasmus (DU) def. Heckler/Ristivojevic (UMKC), 8-5

Order of finish: 2,3,1