TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (November 7, 2026) – Sophomores Nehal Naidoo and Joao D'Amorim represented The University of Texas Permian Basin men's tennis team at the inaugural ITA Division II Individual National Championships this weekend. The highlight of the action for UTPB was a first-round upset of the No. 2 seed by Naidoo/D'Amorim in doubles.

All three UTPB doubles matches went to a third-set super tiebreaker while Naidoo battled to a third-set in all three of his singles matches.

Double Championship
Naidoo/D'Amorim got off to a great start in doubles to end day one on Wednesday, coming back to take down the No. 2-seed, Harry Pugh/Brendan Jayaprakash (Lander), by a score of 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-8) in a close third-set super tiebreaker in the first round of the ITA DII doubles championship.

However, in the round of 16 on Thursday, Naidoo/D'Amorim came up short in a third-set super tiebreaker, falling 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4) vs. Pete Tran/Noe Milliard (Rollins).

In their third match of the tournament on Friday, Naidoo/D'Amorim came up short in a third-set super tiebreaker for the second match in a row, falling 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5) vs. Jacob Tapia/Federico Iturbe (West Alabama).

Singles Championship
Despite dominating the first set 6-0, Naidoo came up just short by two points in a third-set super tiebreaker, 0-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8), in the first round of the singles bracket vs. Yuto Miyagawa (Washburn). 

In his second and third matches, Naidoo twice came up short in the final game in the third set. He lost 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), vs. the No. 4-seed Marc Mail (Embry-Riddle), and then fell by just two points in the final game, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), vs. Guillaume Randoux (Ouachita Baptist).

Coach's Quote
Words from Coach Chris Tolson: "It's been a good week here at nationals. I am very proud of the effort and the way we competed in every match. We took every match the full distance to a tiebreaker in the third set. I am excited about where our program is headed. To get this kind of experience where the best teams and players are competing and we held our own just shows how bright our future is. Nehal and Joao got better in every match and they learned a lot. We will take these lessons learned back to Odessa, make some adjustments, and have a team ready to compete for a conference championship and more."
 

2026 ITA Division II Individual Championship Results (Link):
 
Singles:
Match 1 – R32 – Main Draw (Nov. 4): Yuto Miyagawa (Washburn) def. Nehal Naidoo (UTPB) 0-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
Match 2 – R16 (Nov. 5): No. 4-seed Marc Mail (Embry-Riddle) def. Nehal Naidoo (UTPB) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3)
Match 3 – Quarterfinals (Nov. 6): Guillaume Randoux (Ouachita Baptist) def. Nehal Naidoo (UTPB) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6)
 
Doubles:
Match 1 – R32 – Main Draw (Nov. 4): Nehal Naidoo/Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) def. No. 2-seed Harry Pugh/Brendan Jayaprakash (Lander) 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-8)
Match 2 – R16 – Main Draw (Nov. 5): Pete Tran/Noe Milliard (Rollins) def. Nehal Naidoo/Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4)
Match 3 – Quarterfinals (Nov. 6): Jacob Tapia/Federico Iturbe (West Alabama) def. Nehal Naidoo/Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5)