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St. John’s Sweeps Men’s Tennis Championship

Cayce, S.C. – A Red Storm blew through Cayce, South Carolina as St. John’s won the 2023 BIG EAST Men’s Tennis Championship. The second seed swept fourth-seeded Butler, 4-0, in Sunday’s final round at the Cayce Tennis and Fitness Center.

Graduate student Diogo Marques was recognized as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. The Portugal product went three-for-three in both doubles and singles, winning every individual match in straight sets. St. John’s quickly captured the doubles point on the top two courts. Playing at second doubles, Nishant Dabas and Carl Gustafsson downed Nicolas Arts and Borja Miralles, 6-1. At No. 1, Axel Vila Altuna partnered with Marques to defeat Thomas Brennan and Alvaro Huete Vadillo (6-1).

The Red Storm carried this momentum into the singles competition. Playing at first singles, Marques downed Brennan in straight sets, beating the Bulldog 6-2, 6-3.  The fifth court fell soon after as Giuseppe De Camelis defeated Patrick Joss with a pair of 6-2 sets.

Carl Gustafsson clinched the Red Storm’s fifth BIG EAST title with a victory over Borja Miralles at No. 3 singles. After a decisive 6-1 first set, Gustafsson battled through a tiebreak second to send the championship trophy back to New York [7-6 (5)]. The Red Storm last won the BIG EAST crown in 2019, followed by championship match appearances in 2022 and 2021. Having earned the BIG EAST’s automatic bid, St. John’s will go on to play in the 2023 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship.
 
COMPLETE RESULTS
#2 St. John’s 4, #4 Butler 0
Doubles
  1. Diego Marques/Axel Vila Antuna (SJU) def. Tom Brennan/Alvaro Huerte (BU), 6-1
  2. Carl Gustafsson/Nishant Dabas (SJU) def. Borja Miralles/Nico Arts (BU), 6-1
  3. Rahul Konakanchi/Patrick Joss (BU) leading Giuseppe De Camelis/Ryota Kaneda (SJU), 4-3
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles
  1. Diogo Marques (SJU) def. Tom Brennan (BU), 6-2, 6-3
  2. Alvaro Huete (BU) leading Axel Vila Antuna (SJU), 6-4, 3-6, 2-0
  3. Carl Gustafsson (SJU) def. Borja Miralles (BU), 6-1, 7-6 (5)
  4. Rahul Konakanchi (BU) leading Nishant Dabas (SJU), 1-6, 6-3, 3-2
  5. Giuseppe DeCamelis (SJU) def. Patrick Joss (BU), 6-2, 6-2
  6. Ryota Kaneda (SJU) leading Nico Arts (BU), 6-4, 5-2
 Order of Finish: 1, 5, 3