DENVER – The University of Denver women's tennis team began its 2026 dual campaign with a 6-1 win over Seattle at Denver Tennis Park on Friday.
With just three games lost over the first two doubles matches, DU went up 1-0 on the day before clinching the victory at 4-0. In total, Denver won five of the six singles matches, all five coming in straight sets and the only loss coming in a match tiebreak.
Doubles:
In her first DU dual-match appearance, senior
Zoe Adkins teamed up with sophomore
Natálie Cinková for a dominant 6-1 win, setting up seniors
Claudia Martinez de Velasco and
Louise Wikander to clinch the opening point with a 6-2 win at the No. 2 slot.
Singles:
In singles, DU jumped out to quick and notable leads in the first sets, seeing four of the six ending with 6-0 or 6-1 scores, and Pioneers claimed all six opening frames. Leading the way was Cinkova, who finished with a double bagel, marking the best performance of her collegiate career – improving on her previous best with just one game lost on four different occasions.
Seattle tightened things up a bit in the second sets, but DU still clinched the win at 4-0, earning a straight-sets win from Martinez de Velasco and sealed with just two games lost from true freshman
Yunfei Cai in her first collegiate dual match.
Seattle got on the board with a win at No. 2 in a 10-point match tiebreak, but Wikander reclaimed a four-point lead for Denver in the top singles match. After taking the first set in a tiebreaker, the DU senior raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second before finishing it off, 6-2.
The final match of the day featured true freshman
Ruby Hansen in her collegiate dual debut. As Cai and Martinez de Velasco did, Hansen opened up her match with a 6-1 first set. The second set proved closer, though the freshman rallied from a break down to get to a tiebreak where she earned a 7-5 win.
Up Next:
The University of Denver women's tennis team returns to Denver Tennis Park for its second of five consecutive home matches on Saturday, January 31, when DU hosts Miami (Ohio) at 1 p.m. MT. Admission is free.
