COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Denver men's tennis team (3-1, 0-0 Summit) dropped its first match of the dual season, falling to (RV) Princeton, 0-4, on the first day of the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday.
 
Doubles:
DU dropped the doubles point after the Tigers claimed multi-break wins at Nos. 1 and 3. In the lone match not to finish, Denver's No. 2 team of juniors Raffaello Papajcik and Ryoma Mishiro twice battled back from a break down to get back on equal terms and were on serve at 3-4 when the match was abandoned.
 
Singles:
The top three singles matches featured a combined five players ranked inside the top 105 in the ITA singles rankings. Only one of the three matches made it to the finish with DU junior Raffaello Papajcik, ranked No. 43, falling to No. 52-ranked Top Nidunjianzan in two sets.
 
DU senior and No. 24-ranked Daniel Sancho Arbizu faced No. 19-ranked Paul Inchauspe in the top singles match of the day that had just barely finished the first set when the dual was clinched. The players traded breaks midway through the set on their way to a contentious tiebreak. Both players had at least one set point, but it was Sancho Arbizu who held on to win it, 11-9.
 
For the first time in his Denver career, senior Rikuto Yamaguchi played a nationally-ranked singles player, drawing No. 105 Landon Ardila. The Princeton player won the opening set, despite a fight back from Yamaguchi midway through, and the second set was five games deep when it was abandoned.
 
Princeton collected two of its points with wins at Nos. 4 and 6 singles, both in straight sets. Denver's Mishiro was in the final unfinished match at No. 5 singles, down a set and late in the second set when it was abandoned.
 
Up Next:
The University of Denver men's tennis team continues play at the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Sunday, January 26, and will play Louisville at 9 a.m. ET/7 a.m. MT.
 
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