ST. LOUIS, Mo. – It might only be February but the #12 Washington University in St. Louis men's tennis team opened their spring season with a 6-1 win over #17 Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday evening at the Lifetime Creve Coeur.

A new format this spring makes the team score to the same as Div. I matches where doubles counts as one point, with a best of three format. Doubles matches also only play a single set with a tiebreaker played at 6-all. Each singles match still counts as a point.

It did not take long for the Bears to take advantage of the new format with wins at the top two spots to secure a 1-0 lead over the Warhawks.

Juniors Colin Fox and Case Fagan opened with a quick 6-2 win at number two doubles over Tyler Nelson and Payton Adkisson. Right behind them were seniors Patricio Garcia Muriel and Stefan Hester who picked up a big 6-3 win over the #6 doubles team in Div. III of Theo Billson and Reuben Giorgio at the top doubles spot.

Even with the doubles point decided, seniors Eric Kuo and Scott Yamamoto didn't give in and took down Drew Van Fossen and Giovanni Vitali, 6-4, to complete the doubles sweep.

Looking to continue the momentum into singles, senior John Fakouri was the first to finish with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 6 over Van Fossen. It was about 25 minutes later that Hester would bring the Bears within one point of the match win with his 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 3. Scruggs, who is #33 in the preseason Div. III singles rankings, secured the win for WashU with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over Billson at No. 2.

After the Warhawks picked up a win at No. 1, Fagan got things back on track for the Bears with a straight sets win over Van Fossen at No. 5, 6-4, 7-6 (4). First-year Drew Koval closed out the match with a three-set win over Nelson, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.

WashU will return to the courts on Saturday, Feb. 15 when DePauw pays a visit to St. Louis. The match with the Tigers will get underway at 7 p.m. at the Forest Lake Tennis Club.