Jack Loutit records incredible Davis Cup win for NZ

Jack Loutit produced the stuff dreams are made of to defeat Luxembourg No 1 Chris Rodesch and level the Davis Cup tie at 2-2 in Palmerston North on Sunday.

In what’s the biggest win yet in the career of the 20-year-old Loutit, he defeated Rodesch, who was on a 16-match winning streak, 7-5 6-4 in one hour, 31 minutes.

New Zealand captain Artem Sitak showed his faith in the Aucklander to select him for his maiden Davis Cup match in a rubber that had so much riding on it.

But Loutit rewarded that confidence by playing tenacious tennis, going for his shots and using his footwork to stay in points until an opportunity presented itself.

Rodesch’s serve was as big as it was against Ajeet Rai on Saturday, which made it hard for him to get a break.

However, at 5-5 in the opening set, Loutit went up 0-40 against the big Luxembourger and although Rodesch got it back to 30-40, Loutit got the return in on the next point and then opened up the court to hit a forehand winner down the line. 

Loutit got another break in the opening game of the next set, then held his nerve to see his way through the remainder of the match.

The sold-out crowd was on its feet as Loutit hit the winning point and the rest of the New Zealand team quickly ran onto the court to join in with Loutit’s celebrations.

The final match of the tie is between Rubin Statham and Alex Knaff.