The UW men’s tennis team got off to a winning start this season, as junior Tobi Obenaus and senior Derek Drabble picked up wins at the Intercollegieat Tennis Association All-American Championships on Sunday.

The tournament, which is hosted by the University of Tulsa and features top collegiate players, has three draws: pre-qualifying, qualifying and main. Both Drabble and Obenaus competed in the prequalifying draw.

Drabble, the UW’s only senior, began his day by defeating Cleveland State’s Ryan Hamning, 6-2, 6-7, 10-5. On Monday, the South African native handled Milos Romic of Bradley, 6-2, 6-2. Needing just one more victory to advance to the qualifying draw, Drabble couldn’t come up with another win as he fell to Antonio Lastre, 6-3, 6-2.

Obenaus started off strong as well, beating Zeyad Montasser of Western Michigan, 2-6, 6-3, (11-9). The native of Austria made another comeback, picking up right where he left off last season when he anchored an incredible UW comeback against Texas Tech in the NCAA championships.

“Tobi saved two match points to pull it out,” head coach Matt Anger said. “I love that he is a comeback player. It was pretty cool that we started [this season] the way we finished [last season].”

But Obenaus couldn’t survive past the first round, as he lost his next match to 15th-seeded Louis Cant of Mississippi State, 6-3, 6-3.

Despite the loss, Drabble will remain in Tulsa to compete in doubles. Normally, Drabble is paired with Martin Kildahl, and the duo finds much success, as evident by their No. 11 ranking. But Kildahl is sitting out with an injury, so fellow junior Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan will take his place this week.

Anger is optimistic that the two can play well together. Nedunchezhiyan and Drabble are roommates in Seattle and are great friends.

“They haven’t played as much as some of the other combos, but they were able to practice before leaving,” Anger said. “They know each other very well, and they’re going to be able to complement each other.”

Nedunchezhiyan, the UW’s No. 1 singles star, is also competing in the singles bracket. Because of his ranking, he already has qualified for the main draw and will begin play Thursday.

Reach reporter Taylor Soper at sports@dailyuw.com.