TYLER, Texas (March 29, 2026) – The UT Permian Basin men's tennis team began a stretch of four straight matches against nationally-ranked opponents with a 7-0 defeat at No. 7 The University of Texas at Tyler on Sunday.
UTPB nearly stole the doubles point as
Philipp Gaurieder and
Joao D'Amorim defeated Job Japelj and Trevor Short at No. 3 doubles, but in the decider at No. 2 doubles,
Andrew Hunsley and
Lucas Nakasato came up short in a tiebreaker loss, 7-6 (7-2), vs. the No. 48 nationally-ranked doubles pair of Malo Poulesquen and Artiom Dorofeev.
At No. 1 doubles,
Nehal Naidoo and
Kabir Chothani fell 6-2 vs. 2025 All-American doubles pair and No. 12-ranked Daniil Felker and Carel Wessel.
UTPB Head Coach
Chris Tolson said, "The men played great doubles today. At three dubs, Joao and Philipp served really well and were able to go up 5-4. They came up big and hit four great returns to break serve and win three dubs. At two, Andy and Lucas put themselves in a great spot serving for the match. We ended up getting unlucky by touching the net on a put-away volley on match point. But overall, today was us continuing to improve in doubles play, which is exciting."
In addition to its two nationally-ranked doubles pairs, each of UT Tyler's top-three singles players in the lineup were nationally ranked.
UT Tyler clinched the match as Chothani fell 6-2, 6-1 vs. Jordi Garcia Portell at No. 5 singles, Naidoo lost 6-2, 6-1 vs. No. 15-ranked Samuel Antwi at No. 3 singles, and Hunsley lost 6-3, 6-1 vs. Felker at No. 4 singles.
At No. 1 singles, D'Amorim was competitive, but fell 6-3, 6-4 against No. 30-ranked Dorofeev, the 2025 ITA Division II Rookie of the Year and also an All-American.
At No. 6 singles,
Enrique Silveira won his first set but fell in a third-set super tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-5), vs. Martin Despodov, the 2025 Lone Star Conference Co-Newcomer of the Year.
Lastly, at No. 2 singles, Nakasato also forced a third-set super tiebreaker, but fell 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7) against No. 23-ranked Poulesquen, who along with Felker and Wessel in doubles, represented UT Tyler at this year's ITA Cup in singles.
Coach Tolson concluded, "Lucas played great at two singles and Enrique at six, both pushing their opponents to three sets. Joao also competed well, pushing a top-15 ranked player to 4-and-4. Overall, it was a great day. The overall team score does not really reflect how close we were."
Results:
Doubles
Singles
- #1 – No. 30 Artiom Dorofeev (UT Tyler) def. Joao D'Amorim (UTPB) 6-4, 6-4
- #2 – No. 23 Malo Poulesquen (UT Tyler) def. Lucas Nakasato (UTPB) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)
- #3 – No. 15 Samuel Antwi (UT Tyler) def. Nehal Naidoo (UTPB) 6-2, 6-1
- #4 – Daniil Felker (UT Tyler) def. Andrew Hunsley (UTPB) 6-3, 6-1
- #5 – Jordi Garcia Portell (UT Tyler) def. Kabir Chothani (UTPB) 6-1, 6-2
- #6 – Martin Despodov (UT Tyler) def. Enrique Silveira (UTPB) 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-6)
- Order of Finish: 5, 4, 3, 1, 6, 2
Team Records:
- UTPB sees its three-match winning streak come to an end and falls to 4-9 overall and 1-1 in the Lone Star Conference.
- UT Tyler improves to 12-4 and 1-1 after losing its LSC opener 5-2 to No. 12 Lubbock Christian University on Saturday.
- In 2025, the Patriots set a new program record for wins with 24 as the they finished 24-3 overall. The Patriots won their third LSC Regular Season title in program history and advanced into the NCAA Round of 16 for the fourth straight year, the Elite Eight for the second straight year, and into the Final Four for the first time in program history. Head Coach Chris Bizot was named the ITA South Central Region and LSC Coach of the Year.
Next Up: The Falcons return to action at No. 31 Cameron University on Saturday, April 4, in Lawton, Oklahoma (starting at 11 a.m.).
