Salvador Bandeira is in his second season as a graduate assistant coach for UWF men's and women's tennis after playing three seasons for the Argonauts.
In his senior season in spring 2022, Bandeira went 11-9 overall and 4-4 in conference play in singles play. It was in doubles that he truly made his mark, however, as he defeated Christian Wedel of Valdosta State from the No. 4 position to win the clinching point for the Gulf South Conference Championship, the 15th in UWF men's tennis history. He registered a 10-6 record that season as the No. 2 pair with teammate Lluis Miralles Miro.
In 2021, he played singles from the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 positions on the season. He and doubles partner Gabriel Nery were 13-7 on the season and were ranked as high as No. 11 in the nation. Together, they took down the No. 5 ranked doubles pair in the nation against Valdosta State in the NCAA South Regional winning 6-2 from the top spot. He won GSC Player of the Week for his efforts in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Week 3 of that season, as he and Nery finished a perfect 3-0 against three Top 25 opponents. He went 1-1 that weekend, picking up a 6-2 win against No. 7 Drury before holding a first set over #36 Hugo Stroppiana of No. 19 Delta State in a match that went unfinished.
Bandeira went 5-1 as the #3 doubles pair on the season with his partner Juan Motta and was 2-1 as the #3 in singles in spring of 2020 before the season was canceled due to COVID-19.
Before coming to UWF, he played his first season of collegiate tennis at USC Aiken, where he was an ITA All-America honoree for doubles action and was named the Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. He was also an all-conference second-team selection for singles and doubles, as he went 14-4 in singles action and 17-6 in doubles action. Additionally, he was 2-0 with wins at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles in the NCAA Region Championship victory over Wingate and in the Sweet 16 win over Drury.
A native of Lisbon, Portugal, Bandeira has spent most of his life around the sport of tennis, as he started playing the game when he was four years old.
