St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Drexel
No. 52 St. John’s Readies to Take on Drexel
2/22/2024 12:13:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Red Storm lead the all-time series against the Dragons, 5-0
The No. 52 St. John's men's tennis team will face Drexel on Friday in Queens. First serve from the USTA National Tennis Center is set for 1 p.m.
Friday will be the sixth all-time matchup between the two programs. The Red Storm are 5-0 against the Dragons. When the teams last met on March 11, 2023, in Philadelphia, St. John's picked up a dominant 6-1 decision behind singles wins from Carl Gustavsson and Ryota Kaneda.
The Johnnies (9-2) were ranked No. 52 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) top 75 poll released earlier this week, marking the Red Storm's highest ranking in the poll since coming in at No. 52 in 2016.
St. John's is coming off a come-from-behind victory against Boston University on Saturday at Cunningham Park. Armando Sotelo clinched the match for the Johnnies on the No. 5 court with a three-set win against Ben Letzer.
Kaneda has led the Red Storm in singles play this season, winning a team-best nine matches. Danilo Raicevic is a perfect 7-0 this season while Gustavsson is 7-2 in 2024.
In doubles play, Ignacio Vinas and Leon Petko are 6-1 with all seven matches coming on the No. 2 court.
Drexel (5-2) is coming off a 4-3 win against NJIT last Friday in the City of Brotherly Love. The Dragons are led by Alex De Sousa, who is 6-1 in singles play this season and has won his last three matches. In doubles action, De Sousa and Alan Jesudason have teamed up for five wins on the No. 1 court.
Following Friday's contest, the Red Storm will head south for a pair of matches in the Lone Star State. St. John's will meet No. 10 Texas in Austin on Feb. 28 before matching up with Trinity (Texas) in San Antonio on March 1.
Players Mentioned
