No. 26 Men’s Tennis Advances to Second Round

Friday, May 1

Charlottesville, Va.

Noon

Columbia

St. John's

5/1/2026 3:44:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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Lions sweep New York City Rival St. John’s at Charlottesville Regional

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 26th-ranked Columbia men's tennis team made quick work of local rival St. John's, defeating the Johnnies 4-0, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at the Virginia Tennis Center at the Boar's Head Resort.

With the win, Columbia (17-7) improves to 19-19 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Under Bidyut K. Goswami Head Coach of Men's Tennis Howard Endelman, the Lions are 9-4, and have extended their streak of winning at least one NCAA Tournament match every year under his stewardship.

"Good start for our guys in the first round of NCAAs on a beautiful afternoon," Endleman said, "We are excited for tomorrow."

Columbia wasted little time capturing the doubles point. The Lions' First Team All-Ivy tandem of Michael Zheng and Nicolas Kotzen quickly dispatched the duo of Danilo Raicevic and Radomir Tomic, 6-1.

On court No. 2, Sachin Palta and Andrew Ena clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Mats Pottbecker and Sergej Zivkovic. Thanaphat Boosarawongse and Abhishek Thorat were leading 3-2 over Adam Groves and Semen Agynskyy when the match was abandoned.

Leading 1-0, Columbia quickly took a 2-0 advantage when David Petrovic retired due to an injury on court No. 2. Kotzen was leading the match 6-1, 1-0 when it was finished.

On court No. 1, Michael Zheng rallied back from a 1-3 deficit in the first set to run away with it, defeating Radomir Tomic 6-3, 6-1. With the win, Zheng improved to 9-2 in singles matches in NCAA Tournament play.

Thanaphat Boosarawongse closed out the match for the Lions with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Sergej Zivkovic on court four.

Abhishek Thorat was leading his match 6-1, 5-4 over Venedikt Tsirikidze when it was abandoned on court No. 5. Palta and Aditya Govila's matches also went unfinished. Govila took the opening set in his match but was trailing 5-2 in the second.

Columbia returns to action on Saturday at 5 p.m. when they take on the winner of No. 5 Virginia vs. Rider. The winner of Saturday's match will advance to the Super Regional the following week.

RESULTS
Singles
1. #5 Michael Zheng (COL) def. Radomir Tomic (SJU), 6-3, 6-1
2. #45 Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. David Petrovic (SJU), 6-1, 1-0
3. #101 Sachin Palta (COL) vs. Semen Agynskyy (SJU), 6-6 unfinished
4. Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL) def. Sergej Zivkovic (SJU), 6-2, 6-1
5. Abhishek Thorat (COL) vs. Venedikt Tsirikidze (SJU), 6-1, 5-4 unfinished
6. Aditya Govila (COL) vs. Adam Groves (SJU), 6-2, 2-5, unfinished

Doubles
1. Michael Zheng/Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Danilo Raicevic/Radomir Tomic (SJU), 6-1
2. Sachin Palta/Andrew Ena (COL) def. Mats Pottbecker/Sergej Zivkoic (SJU), 6-3
3. Thanaphat Boosarawongse/Abhishek Thorat (COL) vs. Adam Groves/Semen Agynskyy (SJU), 3-2 unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (3, 2); Singles (2,1,4)

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