Jack Loutit Falls in Round of 64 at NCAA Singles Tournament
WACO, Texas. – Playing in the first NCAA Singles match of his career, sophomore No. 77 Jack Loutit fell in straight sets to No. 42 Kenta Miyoshi of Illinois in the Round of 64 on Tuesday Evening. Miyoshi took the win 6-3, 6-4 and advanced to Wednesday’s Round of 32 contests.
Both sets were decided by a singular break of serve, with Loutit unable to come out victorious in a tightly contested, back-and-forth matchup. Each of the two breaks of Loutit’s serve that decided the match came on deciding point deuces.
Both players traded early breaks of serve in the opening frame and the set-maintained equilibrium until Loutit was serving at 3*-4. The Wildcat raced to a 40-15 lead in the game but was unable to consolidate the hold and Miyoshi served out the first set, 6-3.
In the second, both players opened the frame by trading holds. In Loutit’s second service game, his Illini opponent was able to build a 15-40 lead before the Kiwi brought the game back to deuce. However, Miyoshi was able to win the break, a lead he would not relinquish in the match. Loutit, a 2023 SEC All-Freshman Team member, did have one break point in the match—a deciding point in Miyoshi’s 4*-3 service game—but could not bring the set to equal terms. Loutit would force Miyoshi to serve out the match, bringing the final score to 6-3, 6-4.
In the first season of a two-year NCAA pilot program, the individual tennis championships are being played in the fall in 2024-25 and 2025-26, while the team championships remain in their traditional spring window. The 2024-25 NCAA D1 Individual Tennis Championships are being held at Baylor’s Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.
Loutit qualified for his first NCAA Singles Tournament at the ITA South Sectional in early November, winning three matches in four days to punch his ticket. He defeated former teammate Christophe Clement of Georgia Tech and Hugo Coquelin of Vanderbilt to reach the quarterfinals. Despite falling to No. 24 Jeremy Jin of Florida in the round of eight, Loutit was able to play for a bid to the national tournament in a playoff round, defeating Julien Penzlin of LSU in straight sets to punch his ticket.
Ranked No. 77 in the country in the ITA’s fall singles rankings, Loutit now owns a 3-4 singles record this fall. He also competed at the ITA All-American Championships in September but dropped a pair of matches in qualifying. Loutit has also represented his country this fall, winning his first-ever Davis Cup rubber for New Zealand in September.
The loss concludes the fall portion of Kentucky’s 2024-25 schedule. The spring schedule—which features the dual match season—will be released at a later date.
