DENVER – The University of Denver men's tennis team (8-5, 0-0 Summit) earned its second 5-2 win in three days, this time defeating Jacksonville State at Denver Tennis Park on Sunday.
After dropping the doubles point in a tiebreak, Denver responded by winning the first two singles matches and then clinched the dual with wins at Nos. 6 and 2. DU added a fifth point after winning the No. 5 match as well.
Doubles:
DU and JSU split results across the first two doubles matches to finish, leaving the point to be decided in a tiebreak in the No. 1 match. After a back-and-forth battle that saw both teams take leads, Denver's
Connor Robb-Wilcox and
Rikuto Yamaguchi held set points against JSU's serve up 6-5 but were unable to convert, sending the match to the breaker. JSU won six of the first seven points on its way to a 7-2 tiebreak to win the doubles point.
Denver did earn a doubles win from its No. 2 team of senior
Daniel Sancho Arbizu and freshman
Theo Coats. They claimed the match's first break to go up 3-2 and held the rest of the way to a 6-3 win.
Singles:
Denver freshman
Samuel Rovai leveled the scoreline with a straight-sets win at No. 3 singles. Both players had trouble holding serve through the core of the first set, but Rovai was able to earn a critical hold to go up 6-5 late before breaking once more to claim the set. He carried momentum into the second set, winning the first five games before his opponent was able to hold for the first time. Rovai then successfully served out the match at 6-1.
Sancho Arbizu gave DU its first lead of the day with his team-leading 10
th win in 2025. He opened the match with a break and stretched it to a 5-1 lead. JSU stayed alive with a hold for 5-2 before the DU senior held at deuce to serve it out. The first four games of the second set went the way of the server until Sancho Arbizu earned what would be the set's only break on his way to a 6-4 win.
Jacksonville State pulled the dual to 2-2 with a win at No. 4 singles, but Denver freshman Coats put the Pioneers back in the lead with just five games lost at the No. 6 spot. The first four games saw a combined three breaks with Coats going up 3-1 and then holding for 4-1. He added another break in the following game and served out the set at 6-1. JSU broke early in the second set, but Coats got back on serve in the seventh game as part of five straight games won to secure the set, 6-4.
Yamaguchi clinched the win for Denver in another straight-sets win, giving him a winning record in dual match play thus far. Two early breaks gave him a commanding lead in the opening set, resulting in a 6-2 win. JSU began to turn the tide in the second set with a 4-1 lead, but Yamaguchi got back on level terms at 4-4. After trading holds, the DU senior broke for 6-5 and served it out at love.
Just moments later, Robb-Wilcox wrapped up the fifth and final point for Denver in a second-set tiebreak. He started with a dominant 6-2 win in the first set after winning the final four games. Things looked to be headed toward a third set after JSU went up 5-2 in the second, but the DU graduate student rallied back to 5-5. The players both held in their final service games to get to the breaker. Before the first changeover, both players went on three-point win streaks. Robb-Wilcox took a minibreak lead at 5-4 and won both of his subsequent service points to secure the victory.
Up Next:
The University of Denver men's tennis team takes a trip to its western neighbor state, playing at BYU on Friday, February 28, and then at Utah on Sunday, March 2.
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