TULSA, Okla. – University of Denver men's tennis player and senior Daniel Sancho Arbizu defeated two top-ranked players at the 2024 ITA All-American Championships on Friday.
 
Over the span of five and a half hours, Sancho Arbizu upset No. 38-ranked Peter Makk from USC in the main draw consolation round of 32 before backing it up with a win over No. 16-ranked Pedro Cardenas from Duke in his round of 16 qualifying match.
 
Sancho Arbizu, who holds the ITA's No. 94 national singles ranking, started the day with a come-from-behind victory over USC's Makk, rallying from a set down to finish with a 2-6 6-4 6-1 win.
 
Sancho Arbizu held the first break points of the match, taking a 0-40 leave in Makk's second service game before the USC player was able to hold. Makk followed it up with a break of Sancho Arbizu's serve for a 3-1 lead on his way to a 6-2 set.
 
The DU senior began to flip the script in the second set, saving a break point at deuce to get to 202 before immediately breaking Makk's serve in the next game. He dropped just two points on serve following the break, allowing him an easy route to a 6-4 win in the second set to force a third.
 
Sancho Arbizu carried momentum into the third set, holding break chances in every return game on his way to a dominant 6-1 win. He broke immediately to begin the match before adding a second break to go up 4-1. With Makk attempting to serve to stay in the match, Sancho Arbizu hung tough to force a match point at deuce, claiming to point and the victory.
 
In the final set, he lost only four points on serve and converted three of his five break chances.
 
After an hour's break, the Denver senior retook the court against Duke's Rodenas and was again pushed to three sets but still claimed the victory, 6-4 2-6 6-3.
 
His second match of the day started with two break points saved in his first service game before he captured consecutive breaks on Rodenas' serve for a 5-2 lead. The player from Duke was able to get one break back before Sancho Arbizu served out the set at 6-4.
 
Sancho Arbizu broke to begin the second but found things level at 2-2 as Rodenas took five straight games to push the match to a third. The deciding set began almost identically to the second with a break for Sancho Arbizu before Rodenas got back on serve a 2-2. Sancho Arbizu reversed the trend with another break for a 3-2 lead and then stretched it to 5-2.
 
As was the case in the first set, Cardenas stayed alive with a break in the eighth game, but Sancho Arbizu sealed the victory with his seventh break of the match, winning the first match point he saw at 15-40.
 
The two wins on Friday were Sancho Arbizu's fourth and fifth over nationally-ranked singles players since the start of the 2023-24 season.
 
Next up, Sancho Arbizu plays in the main draw consolation round of 16 and will take on Texas A&M's JC Roddick, who is ranked No. 17 in the ITA preseason rankings. The match is set for Saturday at approximately 11:30 a.m. CT/10:30 a.m. MT.
 
Elsewhere in Denver men's tennis, five Pioneers are also in action this weekend and began play at the Bedford Cup in the Mountains, hosted by the Air Force Academy, on Friday. The tournament continues through Sunday.
 
Denver's Home for College Sports
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Women's Tennis on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_WTennis on Twitter
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_WTennis on Instagram