Four Wildcats to Compete at ITA All-American Championships
TULSA, Oklahoma – A quartet of Wildcats—Martin Breysach, Charlelie Cosnet, Jack Loutit, and Jaden Weekes—have been selected to play at the 44th annual ITA All-American Championships, set to be held over the next week. Played at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa, the tournament is set to run from September 21-29 and features three different phases of draws—pre-qualifying, qualifying, and main draw—in both singles and doubles. There are also consolation draws for losing players in each of the three phases.
All four athletes will play in singles, while Breysach and Weekes will also team up in doubles action. The junior duo will be entered in the prequalifying draw for both singles and doubles and begin their tournament on Saturday. 128 singles players and 32 doubles teams enter the tournament in this stage of the draw, playing for 16 spots in the singles qualifying draw and 8 entries into the doubles qualifying draw. In pre-qualifying, singles players must win three matches across Saturday and Sunday to advance into the qualifying draw, while doubles teams need to win twice to advance.
Cosnet and Loutit earned direct entry into the qualifying draws, meaning their singles campaigns will begin on Monday. 64 singles players are entered in this draw and will play for 16 spots in the main draw, meaning athletes must win twice over Monday and Tuesday to advance. Should Breysach and Weekes make it past pre-qualifying doubles, they would be one of 32 doubles teams playing for one of eight spots in the doubles main draw, also requiring two wins in two days.
In the first weekend of the fall season, all four Wildcats competing in Tulsa saw success, highlighted by Breysach’s championship run at the Louisville Invitational. At the SEC Challenge, Weekes had a perfect week in singles, while Cosnet also earned the first win of his junior campaign. Loutit, competing for New Zealand, picked up a win as well, defeating Chris Rodsech of Luxembourg to earn a victory in his Davis Cup debut.
The 2024 edition of the ITA All-American Championships features a new set of stakes available to players, as it is the first-ever qualifying event for the fall edition of the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. The revamped event will be held at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas—hosted by Baylor University—from November 19-24. New to 2024, the NCAA is testing a pilot program with the individual tennis championships, moving them to the fall calendar and away from their traditional home following the conclusion of the team tournament in May. Other qualifying events on the 2024 calendar include ITA Regional Championships, ITA Sectional Championships, and the ITA Conference Masters.
In Tulsa, 10 singles qualifying positions are available to players, to be awarded to the eight quarterfinalists in the main draw, as well as the two consolation finalists from the main draw. For doubles, four tickets to Waco are available for each of the main draw semifinalists.
Historically, Kentucky has had two finalists in the event’s history—one in singles and one in doubles. In 1986—the second edition of the tournament’s doubles draw—Richard Benson and Greg Van Emburgh advanced to the finals before falling in three sets to Shelby Cannon and Byron Talbot of Tennessee. The Cats’ only trip to the singles final came in 2010 when Eric Quigley lost to Alex Domijan of Virginia in three sets.
A full schedule for the tournament is listed below.
Pre-Qualifying
Saturday, Sept. 21 – Singles R128, Doubles R32
Sunday, Sept. 22 – Singles R64, Singles Cons. R64, Singles R32, Doubles R16, Doubles Cons. R16
Qualifying
Monday, Sept. 23 – Singles R64, Doubles R32
Tuesday, Sept. 24 – Singles R32, Singles Cons. R32, Doubles R16, Doubles Cons. R16
Main Draw
Wednesday, Sept. 25 – Singles R64, Doubles R32
Thursday, Sept. 26 – Singes R32, Singles Cons. R32a, Doubles R16, Doubles Cons. R16
Friday, Sept. 27 – Singles R16, Singles QF, Singles Cons. R32b, Singles Cons. R16a, Doubles QF, Doubles Cons. QF
Saturday, Sept. 28 – Singles Semifinals, Singles Cons. R16b, Singles Cons. QF, Doubles Semifinals, Doubles Cons. Semifinals
Sunday, Sept. 29 – Singles Final, Singles Cons Semifinals, Doubles Final, Doubles Cons. Final
