ACU's newly transferred tennis player
Luis Jose Nakamine will compete in the
2025 ITA National Summer Championships beginning Saturday in Memphis.
The tournament runs through Tuesday, Aug. 12, at the Leftwich Tennis Center.
Nakamine qualified for the 32-player singles draw by making the semifinals of an ITA Summer Series event in Waco in mid-July.
"We're now starting to see more guys who are following a career in tennis come to our program," ACU men's tennis head coach Juan Nuñez said. "L.J. has worked on his game, and continued to play tournaments at a high level, the ITA circuit being one of them."
Nakamine transferred to ACU after his freshman season at Baylor. A match against a Wildcat player in 2024 that put him on Nunez's radar.
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Tomas Tischner played [Nakamine] in the fall regional last fall, and I really liked the way he competed and acted on the court. When he got in the portal I immediately got on the phone with Baylor's coach Michael Woodson, who is a good friend of mine. He had nothing but great things to say about him."
Nakamine finished with a 14-6 singles record during the fall 2024 season. He is one of the best young players from Peru and played in the 2024 Australian Open in the junior boys' singles and doubles competition.
"We had a really good conversation. It seemed like his values, who he is as a person, go hand-in-hand with who we want to be at ACU," said Nuñez. "He came on a visit and it felt like a perfect match from the beginning."
Nuñez said the ITA National Summer Championships brings more exposure to Nakamine and is a sign of the level of player ACU is starting to attract.
"He has competed at that level, and that's what he's going to bring to our program. He makes our roster that much stronger."
Click here for live stream options for the ITA National Summer Championships.
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