Over the past month, Luis Nakamine, junior finance major from Peru, represented his country by playing tennis at the 2026 South American Games in Argentina.

“I went with zero expectations, because all of the players were better than me,” Nakamine said.

Nakamine won his first-round match before facing Chile’s Matías Soto, a former Baylor University player who had been ranked No. 248 in the world. The match was played in difficult conditions.

“He started complaining, complaining, complaining, and I started grinding, grinding, grinding,” Nakamine said.

It was the biggest win of his career, but it was not the success that made this match special for him.

“My dream was to play for Peru and my whole family is watching,” Nakamine said. “And it was happening.”

For Nakamine, family has always been at the center of his tennis journey.

He grew up in Trujillo, Peru, before moving to Lima when he was 14 years old to pursue his tennis career.

For a long time, Nakamine planned on playing professionally instead of going to college.

But in fall 2024, Nakamine’s grandfather passed away.

The loss affected him deeply and tennis became difficult.

“I couldn’t play,” he said.

Instead of turning professional, Nakamine decided to go to college.

At 18, he signed with Baylor and had a competitive first year. He continued improving and planned on returning to Waco for another season.

Then, over the summer, NCAA roster rules had changed and Nakamine lost his spot on the team.

“So what, I am not gonna play tennis anymore?” Nakamine said.

He was scared to tell his dad because he knew how much his family cared about his tennis and how disappointed he might be.

In the middle of July, he received a phone call from a number from Abilene.

ACU’s head coach, Juan Nuñez, contacted him only minutes after Nakamine had entered the portal.

“His game reflects who he is off the court,” Nuñez said. “Very disciplined, hardworking and very focused.”

At ACU, Nakamine began rebuilding more than his tennis career. He began rebuilding his confidence.

“He is energy on and off the court,” Nuñez said. “I think it’s one of the best things about him and what’s really impacted our program.”

That energy began showing on the court.

In January, Nakamine defeated a nationally ranked player at Oklahoma and helping ACU’s men’s team to the semifinals last season in the ASUN conference.

This September, before the South American Games, Nakamine returned to Lima to train with the national team.

“I got to Lima, and I started feeling so good,” Nakamine said. “The last time that I played this good was like two years ago … no, four years.”

Then he watched Peru’s best player nearly lose to an unranked Paraguayan opponent.

“I started to believe everything is possible,” Nakamine said.

That belief carried him through the tournament.

He enjoyed the matches more. He trusted himself more. And instead of focusing on how good the other players were, he focused on what he could do.

Wearing the Peru jerseys gave him a feeling he had never experienced before.

“It was feeling like … superhero, you know,” Nakamine said.

One of his favorite memories wasn’t even his own match. It was watching Dana Guzman winning gold for Peru and seeing the coaches and athletes around her begin to cry.

For Nakamine, those moments reminded him that tennis is bigger than rankings, wins and losses.

His Peruvian coach gave him one message after the tournament:

“Bring all this experience to the school. Don’t lose that believing.”

This season, Nakamine wants to help ACU win the conference championship. He believes the Wildcats have the talent to compete at a much higher level.

“As a team, I always tell Juan that we could be top 20, top 25 in the country,” Nakamine said.

But more than anything, Nakamine wants to continue trusting himself.

The South American Games showed him what can happen when he does.

“Everything will go by and doesn’t last forever,” Nakamine said. “I have this year and another one, and I want to enjoy it.”

Nakamine said that Coach Nuñez gave him that advice before, but he never fully understood.

“I played tennis all my life, but the best way is when I am enjoying it,” he said. “Juan always says that, but you don’t understand that if you don’t experience that.”

Now, he does.

“And when you get that,” Nakamine said, “it just flows. Everything.”