TYLER, Texas (October 25, 2026) – There were 10 men from UT Permian Basin competing in the 58-player singles draw for the 2026 ITA Division II South Central Regional Championship hosted by UT Tyler. The first round of the tournament got underway on Thursday, October 22. The tournament ran through Sunday, October 25, and also included a consolation bracket. The highlights of the tournament for the Falcons were Nehal Naidoo advancing to the quarterfinals of the singles main draw and the pairing of Naidoo/Joao D'Amorim advancing to the semifinals of the doubles main draw.

The teams that participated in the ITA South Central Regionals were: UTPB, Cameron, Lubbock Christian, Midwestern State, St. Mary's, UT Dallas, UT Tyler, and Western New Mexico.

The six-round singles tournament began with a round of 64 on Thursday, with the winners advancing to the finals on Sunday. The winners from both singles and doubles play automatically qualify to participate in the Division II National Championships.

The Falcons had three of the top-16 seeds in the singles draw: Nehal Naidoo (No. 6), Joao D'Amorim (No. 10) and Lucas Nakasato (No. 11).

In the singles main draw, UTPB went 6-3 in the round of 64 and 3-3 in the round of 32. Jack Hansen-Ratter, No. 6-seed Naidoo and No. 10-seed D'Amorim each won their first two matches to reach the round of 16, and all three players won in a third-set super tiebreaker during the round of 32. Hansen-Ratter defeated Trevor Short (UT Tyler) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7); No. 6-seed Naidoo defeated Nikita Gavrilonoks (St. Mary's) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5); and No. 10-seed D'Amorim defeated Arthur Schmitkel (UT Tyler) 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-1). In the round of 16, all three players took on a seeded opponent, with Hansen-Ratter falling 6-2, 6-0 vs. No. 5-seed Marco Seccia (Lubbock Christian) and No. 10-seed D'Amorim falling 6-2, 6-4 vs. No. 2-seed Pablo Segura (Lubbock Christian). Naidoo was the lone Falcon to advance from the round of 16 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 16-seed Martin Despodov (UT Tyler). Then in the quarterfinals on Saturday, vs. No. 3-seed Malo Poulesquen (UT Tyler), Naidoo battled hard but came up short 6-2, 6-4. Poulesquen would win his next match to advance to the championship match in the main draw.

In the singles back draw, UTPB went 2-1 in the round of 32, and then in the round of 16, it was Enrique Silveira defeating Hayden Loffler (Lubbock Christian) 6-2, 6-3 while Philipp Gaurieder fell by that same score, 6-2, 6-3, vs. Tomas Leguizamon Chaves. Then in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Silveira battled Leguizamon Chaves and came up short 6-0, 6-3. Leguizamon Chaves would also win his next match to advance to the final match of the back draw.

UTPB also had five of the 30 doubles teams competing this week, including the No. 5-seeded pairing of Nehal Naidoo/Joao D'Amorim.

In the doubles main draw, UTPB went 3-2 in the round of 32. Then in the round of 16, all three remaining UTPB matches went to a tiebreaker. Lucas Nakasato/Andrew Hunsley fell 8-7 (7-3) vs. No. 6-seed Lukas Holub/Abubakari Yakubu Lea (Cameron) and Philipp Gaurieder/Kabir Chothani lost 8-7 (7-0) vs. No. 4-seed Jose Castillo/Antoni Pankowski (UT Dallas). Meanwhile, No. 5-seed Naidoo/D'Amorim needed a pair of tiebreakers to win their first two matches, winning 8-7 (7-6) over Jose Portillo/Cesar Loeches Llamas (Midwestern State) in the round of 32 and 8-7 (11-9) over Job Japelj/Martin Despodov (UT Tyler) in the round of 16. No. 5-seed Naidoo/D'Amorim matched up against No. 2-seed Andrea Rossi Principe/Marco Seccia (Lubbock Christian) in the quarterfinals and rolled to an 8-1 victory. Then in the semifinals on Saturday, No. 5-seed Naidoo/D'Amorim took on a top-four seeded duo for the second match in a row, this time falling 6-1, 6-4 vs. No. 4-seed Jose Castillo/Antoni Pankowski (UT Dallas).

In the doubles back draw, both UTPB pairs lost in a tiebreak in the quarterfinals. Lucas Yamaguti/Jack Hansen-Ratter fell 8-7 (7-1) against Zoheir Fardoun/Tom Debonne (Cameron) while Christian Lopez/Enrique Silveira fell 8-7 (9-7) against Haden Loffler/Ayden Fraire (Lubbock Christian). Both of those pairs that defeated the Falcons would win their next match to advance to the final of the back draw.

UPTB Head Coach Chris Tolson said, "It was a great weekend for our men's team. Having three guys reach the round of 16 is great. Capped off with Nehal making the quarterfinals. Doubles wise we were in every match. Nehal and Joao making the semifinals was exciting. All our other doubles teams had great performances as well as when they lost, they lost in a tiebreaker, so the matches really could have gone either way. I am proud of the effort and growth we have made from last Spring."
 
 
2026 ITA Division II South Central Regional Championship Results (Link):
 
Singles Main Draw:
R64: Kabir Chothani (UTPB) def. Hayden Loffler (Lubbock Christian) 6-3, 6-4
R64: Martin Salvado Pages (Midwestern State) def. Enrique Silveira (UTPB) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
R64: Christian Lopez (UTPB) def. Matheus Zanellato (UT Dallas) 7-5, 0-6, 1-0 (16-14)
R64: No. 15-Seed Amir Gaisin (Lubbock Christian) def. Philipp Gaurieder (UTPB) 6-3, 6-2
R64: Jack Hansen-Ratter (UTPB) def. Benjamin Vriends (Western New Mexico) 6-3, 6-4
R64: Lucas Yamaguti (UTPB) def. Zoheir Fardoun (Cameron) 6-2, 7-5
R64: No. 6-seed Nehal Naidoo (UTPB) def. Andres Serrano (Cameron) 6-4, 7-5
R64: Rynard van der Laan (Midwestern State) def. No. 11-seed Lucas Nakasato (UTPB) 6-1, 6-3
R64: No. 10-seed Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) def. Ayden Fraire (Lubbock Christian) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
R32: No. 1-seed Samuel Antwi (UT Tyler) def. Kabir Chothani (UTPB) 6-1, 6-1
R32: No. 8-seed Abubakari Yakubu Lea (Cameron) def. Christian Lopez (UTPB) 6-3, 6-0
R32: Jack Hansen-Ratter (UTPB) def. Trevor Short (UT Tyler) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)
R32: No. 16-seed Martin Despodov (UT Tyler) def. Lucas Yamaguti (UTPB) 6-1, 6-0
R32: No. 6-seed Nehal Naidoo (UTPB) def. Nikita Gavrilonoks (St. Mary's) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5)
R32: No. 10-seed Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) def. Arthur Schmitkel (UT Tyler) 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-1)
R16: No. 5-seed Marco Seccia (Lubbock Christian) def. Jack Hansen-Ratter (UTPB) 6-2, 6-0
R16: No. 6-seed Nehal Naidoo (UTPB) def. No. 16-seed Martin Despodov (UT Tyler) 6-3, 6-4
R16: No. 2-seed Pablo Segura (Lubbock Christian) def. No. 10-seed Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) 6-2, 6-4
Quarterfinals: No. 3-seed Malo Poulesquen (UT Tyler) def. No. 6-seed Nehal Naidoo (UTPB) 6-2, 6-4
 
Singles Back Draw:
R32: Enrique Silveira (UTPB) def. No. 9-seed Antoni Pankowski (UT Dallas) 6-2, 6-0
R32: Philipp Gaurieder (UTPB) def. Leonardo Fabbri (St. Mary's) Wo [inj]
R32: Job Japelj (UT Tyler) def. No. 11-seed Lucas Nakasato (UTPB) 6-4, 6-4
R16: Enrique Silveira (UTPB) def. Hayden Loffler (Lubbock Christian) 6-2, 6-3
R16: Tomas Leguizamon Chaves (Midwestern State) def. Philipp Gaurieder (UTPB) 6-2, 6-3
Quarterfinals: Tomas Leguizamon Chaves (Midwestern State) def. Enrique Silveira (UTPB) 6-0, 6-3
 
Doubles Main Draw:
R32: Lucas Nakasato/Andrew Hunsley (UTPB) def. Diego Alvarez Canedo/Oliver Eriksson (St. Mary's) 8-6
R32: No. 3-seed Bruno Sanchez/Filip Vacula (Midwestern State) def. Lucas Yamaguti/Jack Hansen-Ratter (UTPB) 8-7 (7-3)
R32: No. 7-seed Malo Poulesquen/Alejandro Pardo Moro (UT Tyler) def. Christian Lopez/Enrique Silveira (UTPB) 8-2
R32: Philipp Gaurieder/Kabir Chothani (UTPB) def. Kerem Tufekci/Andres Serrano (Cameron) 8-7 (7-3)
R32: No. 5-seed Nehal Naidoo/Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) def. Jose Portillo/Cesar Loeches Llamas (Midwestern State) 8-7 (8-6)
R16: No. 6-seed Lukas Holub/Abubakari Yakubu Lea (Cameron) def. Lucas Nakasato/Andrew Hunsley (UTPB) 8-7 (7-3)
R16: No. 4-seed Jose Castillo/Antoni Pankowski (UT Dallas) def. Philipp Gaurieder/Kabir Chothani (UTPB) 8-7 (7-0)
R16: No. 5-seed Nehal Naidoo/Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) def. Job Japelj/Martin Despodov (UT Tyler) 8-7 (11-9)
Quarterfinals: No. 5-seed Nehal Naidoo/Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) def. No. 2-seed Andrea Rossi Principe/Marco Seccia (Lubbock Christian) 8-1
Semifinals: No. 4-seed Jose Castillo/Antoni Pankowski (UT Dallas) def. No. 5-seed Nehal Naidoo/Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) 6-1, 6-4
 
Doubles Back Draw:
R16: Lucas Yamaguti/Jack Hansen-Ratter (UTPB) def. Egor Rybakov/Juan Luis Aguirre (UT Dallas) Wo [inj]
R16: Christian Lopez/Enrique Silveira (UTPB) def. Leonardo Fabbri/Prateek Singla (St. Mary's) Wo [inj]
Quarterfinals: Zoheir Fardoun/Tom Debonne (Cameron) def. Lucas Yamaguti/Jack Hansen-Ratter (UTPB) 8-7, 7-1
Quarterfinals: Haden Loffler/Ayden Fraire (Lubbock Christian) def. Christian Lopez/Enrique Silveira (UTPB) 8-7, 9-7