LINCOLN, Neb. – Drake men's tennis opened the 2026 spring season Friday afternoon with a hard-fought 5-2 loss to Memphis at the Sid and Hazel Dillon Tennis Center. The Bulldogs battled throughout both doubles and singles play, but the Tigers claimed the doubles point and secured four singles victories to pull away.

Memphis earned the early edge by winning the top two doubles matches. The Tigers' duo of Markovski/Milosavlijevic posted a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles, followed by a 6-3 victory from Castro Fabra/Rensing over Adan Tarquino and Christian Winstead at No. 1 to clinch the doubles point.

In singles action, Memphis struck first as No. 101-ranked Kudernatsch defeated Winstead in straight sets at No. 1, and Reeve followed with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Drake's Ben Johnson at No. 2.

Drake answered with its first point of the afternoon at No. 3 singles, where Alan Gonzalez rallied past Milosavlijevic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. The Bulldogs' second point came courtesy of freshman Sam Melaga, who earned his first collegiate victory in dramatic fashion with a 3-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-4) win over Puig McCallan at No. 5.

Memphis sealed the match with straight-set wins from Carvalho over Alessandro Hernandez at No. 4 and O Nuallain over Alex Yeager at No. 6.

Drake will look to bounce back in its next outing as the Bulldogs continue early-season action this weekend.