St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
No. 8 Villanova
Top-Seeded St. John’s Advances to BIG EAST Semifinals With 4-0 Sweep of No. 8 Villanova
4/17/2026 12:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Johnnies are to set to face No. 4 Georgetown tomorrow at 9 a.m.
With the victory, the Red Storm move one win away from their seventh consecutive conference championship appearance. St. John's will face the winner of No. 4 Georgetown and No. 5 Butler in Saturday's semifinal at 9 a.m.
The Johnnies secured the doubles point before dominating singles play to complete the sweep.
In doubles action, Mats Pottbecker and Sergej Zivkovic set the tone with a 6-1 victory over Kush Anand and Thomas Wakfield on the No. 2 court. After Villanova evened things with a win on court three, Danilo Raicevic and Radomir Tomic clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 decision over Ethan Carr and Cooper Gordon.
Leading 1-0, St. John's carried its momentum into singles play. Semen Agynskyy extended the advantage with a 6-1, 6-0 win over William Monahan at No. 3 singles. Venedikt Tsirikidze followed with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Anand on court five to put the Red Storm within one point of the match.
Tomic sealed the win on the No. 1 court, defeating Gordon, 6-1, 6-0, to secure the 4-0 final.
With the win, St. John's improves to 19-0 all-time against Villanova and has not dropped a point in the series since 2017.
Entering Saturday's matchup with Georgetown, St. John's holds a 2-1 advantage over the Hoyas in postseason play, including a 4-1 victory in last year's semifinal matchup.
The two programs also met earlier this season, with St. John's earning a decisive 6-1 win on April 1 in College Park.
In that contest, the Johnnies secured the doubles point behind dominant performances from Mats Pottbecker and Sergej Zivkovic, along with Adam Groves and Semen Agynskyy. St. John's carried that momentum into singles play, where Danilo Raicevic, Radomir Tomic and Agynskyy recorded straight-set victories to clinch the match.
After Georgetown picked up its lone point, the Red Storm added wins from Venedikt Tsirikidze and Groves to secure the 6-1 final.
First serve is set for 9 a.m. from the Cayce Tennis and Fitness Center.
Players Mentioned
