Box Score LAS VEGAS – University of Denver men's tennis player Daniel Sancho Arbizu won the all-Denver singles final at the 2024 ITA Mountain Regional Championships, hosted by UNLV, on Tuesday.
 
No. 1-seeded Sancho Arbizu defeated fellow Pioneer and No. 10-seeded Raffaello Papajcik, 6-4 6-2, in the final match of the tournament.
 
On his way to the title, Sancho Arbizu dropped just two sets and won a combined seven sets by a score of 6-2 or better. He earned wins over four seeded players along the way.
 
An appearance in the singles final capped a breakthrough tournament for Papajcik, who was playing in the ITA Regional main draw for the first time in his career. On his way to Tuesday's match, he defeated two players seeded higher than him.
 
Sancho Arbizu is the fourth Pioneer to win an ITA Regional singles title, joining Diogo Rocha (2015), Henry Craig (2013, 2014) and Enej Bonin (2010, 2012). Including doubles, Denver has now won 13 ITA Regionals titles with Sancho Arbizu's becoming the first since James Davis and Matt Summers won back-to-back doubles crowns in 2019 and 2021. (The 2020 tournament was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
 
Tuesday's final marked the first time that two Denver players met in an ITA Regional singles title match and was the first time since 2007 that two players from the same school appeared in the singles final at the ITA Mountain Regional (last: Boise State's Clancy Shields and Luke Shields).
 
As the ITA Mountain Regional singles finalists, both Sancho Arbizu and Papajcik qualified for the 2024 NCAA Singles Championship, set for November 19-24 and hosted by Baylor University. They will now await official NCAA selections on November 11, and the singles draw is expected to be announced on November 16.
 
The University of Denver men's tennis team has a week off before hosting its annual fall tournament, the Colorado Cup, on November 1-3 at Denver Tennis Park.
 
TUESDAY'S SINGLES RESULTS
Final: [1] Daniel Sancho Arbizu def. [10] Raffaello Papajcik: 6-4 6-2
 
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