TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With a straight-set win in the quarterfinal playoff round of the ITA South Sectional, sophomore Jack Loutit officially earned his entry into the 64-player draw of the 2024 NCAA Singles Championship. The Auckland, New Zealand native defeated Julien Penzlin of LSU 6-2, 6-2 on a sunny, Sunday morning at the Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Complex in Tallahassee, Florida to become one of six qualifiers to emerge from the inaugural ITA South Sectional.

With the win, Loutit extended the streak of at least one Wildcat qualifying for the NCAA Singles Tournament to five straight seasons. The 2024-25 season marks the first year that the event—held in conjunction with the NCAA Doubles Championships—will be held in the fall season. The move is part of a two-year pilot program that moves the individual tournaments away from their traditional slot at the end of May with the hopes of a more evenly distributed schedule. The NCAA Team Championships will still occur throughout the month of May.

The NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships will be held from November 19-24 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. A 64-player singles draw will be conducted over the week, with one round is scheduled on each of the six days of competition. Draws are scheduled to be announced on November 16. The singles field will be composed of qualifiers from four different ITA events held over the course of the fall. 10 players—eight quarterfinalists and two consolation finalists— qualified in September at the ITA All-American Championships. In October, 26 players qualified by reaching the finals at the respective ITA Regional Championships. Four more players qualified by reaching the semifinals of the ITA Conference Masters this weekend, with the final 24 players earning bids across the four ITA Sectional Championships.

Loutit commenced his sectional campaign on Thursday afternoon, defeating former Wildcat teammate Christophe Clement, who now plays for Georgia Tech, in straight sets. Three games into the opening round match, a heavy rain began, forcing the match indoors. Loutit cruised to a 6-2, 7-6 (1) victory to advance into the final sixteen.

The Kiwi continued his dominant play, steamrolling Vanderbilt’s Hugo Coquelin in the Round of 16. Loutit cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win on Friday morning, clinching his spot in the quarterfinals and moving within one win of a NCAA bid.

Semifinalists at the sectional were guaranteed entry to the NCAA Championships, but Loutit was unable to clinch his spot on Saturday, as he fell to No. 24 Jeremy Jin of Florida in two tight sets, 6-3, 6-3. However, Loutit still was guaranteed one more match, as the four quarterfinal losers would play a pair of playoff matches on Sunday to determine the final two qualifying positions.

With his fall season on the line, Loutit responded mightily, cruising through Penzlin to claim victory in just over 70 minutes of play.

Loutit’s NCAA Singles run will be the final tournament of the fall for the Cats, who will open up the team portion of the season in January 2025. A full spring schedule will be released at a later date.

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Main Draw Singles

R32 – [2] No. 77 Jack Loutit (Kentucky) def. Christophe Clement (Georgia Tech) 6-2, 7-6 (1)

R16 – [2] No. 77 Jack Loutit (Kentucky) def. Hugo Coquelin (Vanderbilt) 6-2, 6-0

QF – [5-8] No. 24 Jeremy Jin (Florida) def. [2] Jack Loutit (Kentucky) 6-3, 6-3

QF Playoff – [2] No. 77 Jack Loutit def. Julien Penzlin (LSU) 6-2, 6-2