ALBUQUERQUE – The No. 38-ranked University of Denver men's tennis team (13-0, 0-0 Summit) continued its undefeated start to the 2024 season with a 4-3 road win at New Mexico on Sunday.
 
Denver won the doubles point before clinching the victory at 4-1. The Lobos claimed the final singles points with a retirement at No. 3 singles and then a win in a 10-point tiebreak for the No. 1 singles third set.
 
Doubles:
DU came back from an early deficit in doubles play to claim the first point of the day. After UNM took the No. 1 doubles match, Denver graduate student Anish Sriniketh returned to play for the first time since February 11 and helped level things with a win at No. 3 doubles with sophomore Raffaello Papajcik.
 
The doubles point came down to a tiebreak in the No. 2 matchup with graduate student Marvin Schaber and junior Daniel Sancho Arbizu taking it, 7-4, for their sixth-consecutive win.
 
Singles:
Papajcik continued to roll in singles play, extending his unbeaten streak to seven matches with a two 6-4 sets to give DU a 2-0 lead. Junior Rikuto Yamaguchi put Denver within a point of the win at No. 4 singles, winning the first set and then rallying to take the third, 6-2, after dropping the second set.
 
New Mexico got on the board with a win in three sets at No. 6 singles, but DU's Schaber clinched the dual for the Pioneers after moving up to the No. 2 slot for just the second time this year. He won in straight sets to stay unbeaten in his last 12 singles matches – winning eight of them in two sets.
 
With the match clinched, Sancho Arbizu retired at No. 3 singles with the match level at a set apiece. The final point of the day went to UNM after the players also split sets. A 10-point tiebreak decided the match result, with No. 93-ranked Arda Azkara from UNM sneaking out a 10-7 win over DU's No. 109-ranked Nicolas Herrero Cuesta – the senior's only loss of the year so far.
 
Up Next:
The University of Denver men's tennis team continues play on the road for the second of three-consecutive weeks, traveling down I-25 to Air Force on Saturday, March 16.
 
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