DENVER – The University of Denver men's tennis team (10-6, 0-0 Summit) moved to 8-0 at home in 2025 with a 6-1 win over Idaho State at Denver Tennis Park on Friday evening.
 
After winning the doubles point, DU jumped out to a 3-0 lead before ISU earned its only point of the dual. Denver secured the victory at No. 4 singles with the first of three straight singles wins to finish the night.
 
Doubles:
Denver came out on top of a battle for the doubles point, using two late breaks to win both the No. 1 and No. 2 matches, both with 6-4 scorelines. Senior Daniel Sancho Arbizu and freshman Theo Coats earned the first doubles win, coming back from a break down at 3-4 to win the final three games including a break in what would be the final game. Just moments later, Denver's top team of graduate student Connor Robb-Wilcox and senior Rikuto Yamaguchi clinched it in similar fashion. After the first nine games all went to the serving team, the Pioneers converted just the second break point for either team to take it, 6-4.
 
In the night's only unfinished match, juniors Ryoma Mishiro and Raffaello Papajcik were knotted up at 5-5 in the No. 3 match with neither DU or ISU able to earn a break lead at any point.
 
Singles:
The only two singles matches to wrap up in straight sets came from DU's lineup bookends of Sancho Arbizu at No. 1 and Mishiro at No. 6. The junior finished up his match first, winning in two sets for the second time in 2025 thus far. The match began with holds for both players before Mishiro rattled off five straight games on his way to a 6-1 first set. He came back from a break down to start the second set to turn the tables and go ahead 5-3 but was unable to serve it out at 5-4. He answered with another late break for 7-5.
 
Sancho Arbizu won his seventh straight match and did so yet again in straight sets, winning both frames on Friday with a 6-4. Things started with eight consecutive games in favor of the server before the Denver senior broke at deuce for 5-4 and backed it up with a hold. After exchanging breaks in the second set's first two games, he went ahead 3-1 before seeing that break lead disappear at 3-3. The back half of the set remained on serve until Sancho Arbizu broke on his first match point in the 10^th game.
 
Idaho State stayed alive with a three-set win at No. 2 singles, but DU freshman Samuel Rovai clinched the dual for the Pioneers with a come-from-behind win at No. 4, his 11^th overall victory of the season and his fourth in three sets. He dropped the first set, 4-6, but responded with a bagel in the second to force a decider. Again, he fell behind a break early but got back on serve at 4-4 and held at love in the next game to put the pressure on his opponent, ultimately breaking to take it, 6-4.
 
A couple minutes later, Yamaguchi followed a similar pattern in his win, coming back after losing the first set, 4-6. He re-established himself with a 4-0 run to open the second set on his way to a 6-2 win to get to a third set. A break in the fourth game proved to be all he needed, carrying the lead on his way to a 6-3 victory.
 
The final match to finish up only took a few minutes after that and ended with another three-set DU victory, this one coming from Robb-Wilcox at No. 5 singles. He won six of the final seven games to easily claim the first set but saw an early break given up go on to cost him the second set. He quickly reversed things in his favor to open the final set, going up 4-0 and then 5-2 before serving it out at 6-3.
 
Up Next:
The University of Denver men's tennis team is back on a bye week before opening Summit League play at Illinois State on Friday, March 28.
 
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