NORMAL, Ill. – The University of Denver men's tennis team (11-6, 1-0 Summit) earned a 6-1 win in its 2025 Summit League opener at Illinois State on Friday morning.
 
After its second bye weekend in the last three weeks, Denver returned to the court and posted its 31^st consecutive regular-season win over a Summit League opponent.
 
Doubles:
For the third time in the last four matches, Denver won the doubles point with matching 6-3 wins on the top two courts. Graduate student Connor Robb-Wilcox and senior Rikuto Yamaguchi played at No. 1 doubles for the second dual in a row and again earned the win, their fourth together in 2025 thus far. Senior Daniel Sancho Arbizu and freshman Theo Coats clinched the point to move to 8-0 when playing at No. 2 doubles for Denver this year and posting their team-best 12^th doubles victory.
 
In the day's only unfinished match, juniors Ryoma Mishiro and Raffaello Papajcik were on level terms at 4-4.
 
Singles:
All six of the singles matches finished in court order, beginning with an eighth straight-sets win in a row for Sancho Arbizu at No. 1 singles this year. For the fourth time in the last five duals, he lost just six games total in the match.
 
Papajcik moved to 3-1 since returning from a midseason injury, winning all three of those matches in two sets and equaling his 6-2 6-4 scoreline from his last win, coming at Utah on March 2.
 
Yamaguchi clinched the dual for Denver at No. 3 singles, extending his win streak to three and earning his seventh in straight sets in dual matches so far.
 
The only point Denver did not secure on the day was at No. 4 singles, though the loss came in a match tiebreak. Freshman Samuel Rovai won the first set, 6-4, before dropping the second set. The 10-point tiebreak stayed close with ISU earning the win, 11-9.
 
In his first Summit League singles match as a Denver Pioneer, Mishiro moved back up to the No. 5 slot and lost just five games for a 6-3 6-2 win – his second consecutive win and his 12^th overall on the academic year.
 
The sixth and final DU point came from Robb-Wilcox with two 6-4 wins at the No. 6 spot. It marked his 10^th singles win of the 2025 dual season so far and making him the third Pioneer to reach such a milestone.
 
Up Next:
The University of Denver men's tennis team continues Summit League play on the road when it travels to Oral Roberts on Sunday, March 30, at 9 a.m. CT/8 a.m. MT.
 
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