DENVER – The No. 71-ranked University of Denver men's tennis team (14-6, 3-0 Summit) ended its non-conference slate with a come-from-behind 4-3 win against No. 65-ranked New Mexico at Denver Tennis Park on Sunday afternoon.
UNM won the doubles point ahead of a back-and-forth battle across singles, which led to a 3-3 team scoreboard ahead of a third-set tiebreak in the No. 5 singles match. Denver junior
Ryoma Mishiro twice came back from a break down in the final set before claiming the decisive breaker, 7-3.
Doubles:
Denver's No. 1 team of graduate student
Connor Robb-Wilcox and senior
Rikuto Yamaguchi posted the first win of the day, doing so after coming back from an early break down before earning their own break at deuce for a 5-3 lead and serving out the match at love in the next game.
UNM went on to win the day's first point with wins on the final two doubles courts, clinching it on court three with its own comeback win.
Singles:
Senior
Daniel Sancho Arbizu earned the first point of the day for DU with his 11
th consecutive straight-sets singles win. He won both sets, 6-2, in similar fashion, going up 3-1 and eventually turning it into a 5-2 lead before serving it out.
New Mexico reclaimed the lead a couple minutes later at No. 2 singles, but Robb-Wilcox again got Denver back on even terms at 2-2 with his 6-4 6-2 win at No. 6 singles. He held a break lead twice in the first set and was able to hold serve in the 10
th game. In the second set, he won the final five games to seal it.
Freshman
Samuel Rovai gave Denver its first lead and moved within one point of the dual, also winning in straight sets. The first four games all went to the returner before both players settled in for holds until 6-5 when Rovai broke on a deuce point. Again, they traded breaks in the second set before Rovai broke late again and ultimately served it out at love for 6-4.
UNM stayed alive with a win at No. 3 singles, leaving court five and the only third set played on the day to determine a winner. Mishiro dropped the first set but came out with a quick break to start the second. He traded breaks early in the set before winning the final three games to force the third set. UNM's Tallakson went up 4-2 in the final frame, but Mishiro fought back to level it at 5-5. Following a couple more exchanged breaks, the players found themselves in a tiebreak to decide the dual. The breaker sat on even terms at the changeover before Mishiro rattled off four straight points to clinch it for Denver.
Up Next:
The University of Denver men's tennis team starts its final week of the regular season with a home match against Drake on Friday, April 11, before traveling to North Dakota on Sunday, April 13.
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