The Drake men’s tennis team started their spring 2023 season at home against Creighton. The Bulldogs got off to a quick start in the match after getting two 6-2 wins from doubles one and two.
In doubles, one for the Bulldogs was Oliver Johannsson and Matija Matic. In doubles, two were Evan Fragistas and Jeremy Schifris. Markus Bolin and Olle Sonesson Lidholt battled through and got a 7-5 win in doubles three.
The team managed to win all six singles points at the competition. At singles one, Schifris won his match 6-1, 6-3. At singles two, Matic cruised through his match with a 6-3, 6-2 win. Johansson fought through and got a 7-5, 6-4 win at the singles three position.
At four singles, Fragistas won his match 6-1, 6-4. At five singles, Reid Jarvis won his match in a tough three-set match, after getting a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 win. At singles six, Bolin won his match after a straight set win.
The Bulldogs played Marquette later that day and raked in yet another win, this one by a score of 7-0. Doubles one picked up their second win of the day. Doubles two got another win after a 6-4 set. Three doubles with Bolin and Sonesson Lidholt won their doubles match after a close 7-5 set.
Heading into singles, the Bulldogs had a 1-0 lead. Schifris cruised through his match and got a 6-3, 6-1 lead. Matic battled through his first set to get a 7-6 win and then won the second set 6-2, getting another win for the Bulldogs.
Johansson also had a close first set but was able to get a 7-6 win and then cruised through the second set to get a 6-1 win. Fragistas got a 6-3, 6-1 win at four singles. Bolin and Sonesson Lidholt were able to get two more points for the Bulldogs at five and six singles.
The Bulldogs returned to the courts on Saturday, Jan. 28 to play their final match of the weekend against Northern Illinois. Drake men’s tennis got a 6-0 win at doubles one. Doubles two followed up with a 6-4 win to clinch the doubles point.
Matic won his singles match 6-3, 7-6, getting one of the singles points for Drake, and Fragistas won his match at four singles by a score of 6-2, 6-3. Bolin got another one of the singles points after getting a 6-2, 6-4 win.
By the end of the day, the team had secured yet another win by a score of 4-1. After beating all three teams, Drake brought their home record to 3-0.
Fragistas took a moment to express his enjoyment with the team’s early success in the spring season.
“I enjoyed being on the court and competing with the team,” Fragistas said. “It was great to be able to start off our spring season here at home.”
Matic also expressed enjoyment, primarily with the team’s hard work over the past few months of practice paying off so early in the spring season.
“I think we went out and competed well during all three of the dual matches,” Matic said. “It was great to see all the work that we put in during practice come together during the matches.”
Drake men’s tennis’ next two home matches occurred on Feb. 5, in which they secured a win against Washburn but a loss against Cornell.
