LAS VEGAS – The University of Denver men's tennis team placed all four of its student-athletes into round of 16 matches after Day 2 of the 2024 ITA Mountain Regional Championships, hosted by UNLV, on Friday.
 
Play originally kicked off on Thursday with the first round of doubles, though both of Denver's teams received byes into Friday's round of 32.
 
The only Pioneer in action on Thursday was senior Rikuto Yamaguchi who played in the qualifying singles draw. After receiving a bye through the first round as the draw's No. 12 seed, he began play in the round of 32 with a straight-sets win to move him into the main draw.
 
To kick off play on Friday, Denver's No. 13-seeded doubles team of Yamaguchi and junior Raffaello Papajcik used an 8-5 win to move into the round of 16, though DU's top team of senior Daniel Sancho Arbizu and junior Ryoma Mishiro dropped their match.
 
In singles, all four of DU's players won their opening matches on Friday, and three added second wins to move into the round of 16. Top-seeded Sancho Arbizu lost only eight games across both of his straight-sets wins on Friday while his doubles partner Mishiro also won both of his matches in two sets – collecting three combined 6-1 sets.
 
Papajcik made it three Pios in the singles round of 16 after coming back from a set down in his second match of the day. Yamaguchi led by a set in his round of 32 match but ultimately fell to the No. 2 seed.
 
Play continues at the 2024 ITA Mountain Regional Championships on Saturday with the round of 16 in both singles and doubles.
 
THURSDAY'S SINGLES RESULTS - QUALIFYING
Qualifying Round of 32: [12] Rikuto Yamaguchi def. Takumi Katsuda (Northern Arizona): 6-3 6-4
 
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FRIDAY'S SINGLES SCHEDULE – MAIN DRAW
Round of 64: [1] Daniel Sancho Arbizu def. Baltazar Wiger-Nordas (Montana): 6-1 6-1
Round of 64: [10] Raffaello Papajcik def. Daniil Kakhniuk (New Mexico): 6-3 6-3
Round of 64: [16] Ryoma Mishiro def. Dmitry Bezborodov (Montana State): 6-1 7-6(0)
Round of 64: Rikuto Yamaguchi def. Remy Tregoures (Nevada): 5-7 6-0 6-1
Round of 32: [1] Daniel Sancho Arbizu def. Victor Sklenka (Idaho State): 6-2 6-4
Round of 32: [16] Ryoma Mishiro def. Liam Day (Weber State): 6-1 6-1
Round of 32: [10] Raffaello Papajcik def. Taiyo Kurata (Boise State): 4-6 6-4 6-3
Round of 32: [2] Wally Thayne (BYU) def. Rikuto Yamaguchi: 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3
 
FRIDAY'S DOUBLES RESULTS – MAIN DRAW
Round of 32: Kakhniuk/Recoura (New Mexico) def. [2] Mishiro/Sancho Arbizu: 8-6
Round of 32: [13] Papajcik/Yamaguchi def. Calixto/Teramo (Utah): 8-5
 
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SATURDAY'S DOUBLES SCHEDULE
Round of 16: [13] Papajcik/Yamaguchi vs. [4] Baker/Middleton (Boise State)
 
SATURDAY'S SINGLES SCHEDULE
Round of 16: [1] Daniel Sancho Arbizu vs. [12] Youssef Kadiri (Nevada)
Round of 16: [10] Raffaello Papajcik vs. Tristan Sarap (Weber State)
Round of 16: [16] Ryoma Mishiro vs. [4] James Van Herzeele (Boise State)
 
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