DES MOINES, Iowa – In a battle of ranked opponents, 27th-ranked Drake registered a 4-0 men's tennis victory past No. 69 Wisconsin on Saturday (April 20) at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

The Bulldogs captured the doubles point in the affair with triumphs at the Nos. 2 and 3 positions.  Securing the doubles tally for Drake with a 9-7 decision over Alexander Kokorev and Oskar Wikberg on the No. 2 court was the tandem of senior James McKie (Edinburgh, Scotland) and freshman Ben Lott (Newcastle, England).

Senior Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) opened singles play besting Jakhongir Jalalov at No. 5, 6-4, 6-1, to extend the Bulldogs' advantage to 2-0.

Sophomore Ben Mullis (Leicestershire, England) grew the lead to 3-0 after dispatching Kokorev at the No. 6 hole, 6-1, 6-3.

Playing in his first match in nearly a month, senior Anis Ghorbel (Sfax, Tunisia) garnered the match-clinching point for Drake, registering a 7-6 (9), 6-2 triumph against Petr Satral at No. 1. 

The win was even more impressive as Ghorbel trailed in the first set, 6-5 (40-15), before rallying to send the frame into a tiebreaker.  In the tiebreaker, Ghorbel again fell behind, 6-1, before scoring 10 of the next 13 points to capture a 7-6 (9) decision.

NO. 27 DRAKE (21-2) DEF. NO. 69 WISCONSIN (11-10), 4-0

APRIL 20, 2013 • ROGER KNAPP TENNIS CENTER

SINGLES:

No. 1 No. 60 Anis Ghorbel (DU) def. Petr Satral (WIS), 7-6 (9), 6-2

No. 2 James McKie (DU) leading Alexander Kostanov (WIS), 4-6, 6-3, 2-0

No. 3 No. 111 Robin Goodman (DU) leading Oskar Wikberg (WIS), 6-3, 5-5

No. 4 Alen Salibasic (DU) leading Billy Bertha (WIS), 3-6, 7-5, 2-1

No. 5 Jean Erasmus (DU) def. Jakhongir Jalalov (WIS), 6-4, 6-1

No. 6 Ben Mullis (DU) def. Alexander Kokorev (WIS), 6-1, 6-3

Order of finish: 5,6,1

DOUBLES:

No. 1 No. 88 Bertha/Kostanov (WIS) def. Erasmus/Salibasic (DU), 8-2

No. 2 Ben Lott/McKie (DU) def. Kokorev/Wikberg (WIS), 9-7

No. 3 Ghorbel/Goodman (DU) def. Jalalov/Satral (WIS), 8-2

Order of finish: 1,3,2