Jack Loutit showing his potential believes NZ Davis Cup captain

Davis Cup captain Artem Sitak believes Jack Loutit showed his potential to be a top 100 player during last weekend’s win over Jamaica.

Loutit, who picked up a win in his Davis Cup debut against Luxembourg in Palmerston North last year, won both of his matches in the World Group II playoff tie in Kingston, helping New Zealand secure a 3-2 victory.

New Zealand will play a World Group II tie against a yet to be determined opponent in September, partly because of how Loutit stood up when the pressure was on as he twice came back from being a set down in singles rubbers to defeat Blaise Bicknell and Rowland Phillips.

The 20-year-old Loutit has returned to the University of Kentucky since the tie was completed, but Sitak said the week in Kingston, Jamaica highlighted what a great career Loutit could have ahead of him.

“He is in a really good college, they’re No 8 in the country right now, a very strong team, very good coach,” Sitak said. 

“I spoke to his coach (Cedric Kauffmann) many times and he's got a really good setup.

“He can only improve there and I hope he will keep on improving. 

“He's got a few years left in college and I'm looking forward to what he's going to bring when he goes full on to the ATP, because he's definitely got the game for it and the mentality. 

“He's probably one of the biggest fighters I've seen on court and a clutch player, winning that one in Palmerston North and winning the two in Jamaica. He's definitely got the tools to make it to the top 100 in the ATP, I certainly believe that.”

The win over Jamaica put New Zealand back on track in terms of Sitak’s goal for the team and he confidently feels they can be in the mix with the world’s best nations in the Davis Cup.

“In Palmerston North, I told the guys, and we all agree, that our goal is to make it to the world group,” Sitak said. 

“We have a young team where we can definitely do it. We lost a very tight one to Luxembourg and Luxembourg won their following tie against Lithuania, so they are in Group I right now, and they're only two ties away from World Group. 

“So we definitely lost to a very strong team in September, and now we're back, beating a strong team in Jamaica and looking forward to that next one. We're four ties away, as of right now, from the World Group, so one by one, we're going to get it done.”