James Watt – An Impressive Tennis Journey since Davis Cup 2025

Davis Cup breakthrough (September 2025) Watt made his Davis Cup debut for New Zealand against Georgia in a World Group II tie at Fly Palmy Arena in Palmerston North. Ranked 569 in the world at the time, he defeated Zura Tkemaladze 6-2 7-6(2) to give New Zealand a 1-0 lead in the opening rubber. Then on the second day, he clinched the tie with a 7-6(3) 6-2 win over Aleksandre Bakshi, sealing a 3-1 victory for New Zealand and sending the team through to a World Group I playoff. He credited his big serve — he hit 13 aces in that clinching match — as the key to the win.

A big run on the Challenger tour with Finn Reynolds
In the weeks right after Davis Cup, Watt and doubles partner Finn Reynolds went on a hot streak. Tennis NZ reported that since helping New Zealand beat Georgia, the pair won seven of their last eight doubles matches together, including reaching a final in Las Vegas before winning the title at the Tiburon Challenger in California, beating Americans Benjamin Kittay and Joshua Sheehy 6-2, 6-3. The Las Vegas final itself was a loss — Kittay and Sheehy beat Reynolds/Watt 7-5, 7-6(2) there.

The pair then travelled to China, where they won the doubles title at the Jinan Open, an ATP Challenger 125 event, defeating Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli and Arjun Kadhe 7-5, 7-6(1) in the final (played 6–12 October 2025).

They kept adding finals appearances throughout the rest of the season, though not always coming out on top:

• Runners-up at the Shenzhen Futian Open, losing to Nathaniel Lammons/Jean-Julien Rojer 6-7(5), 7-5, [10-4]
• Runners-up at the Matsuyama Challenger in Japan, losing to Marc-Andrea Hüsler/Garrett Johns 6-3, 6-4
• Runners-up at the Morelos Open, losing 7-5, 6-7(5), [10-8]
• Runners-up at the Ostra Group Open, losing 7-5, 6-3
• Champions at the Tyler Tennis Championships in Texas, beating Àlex Martínez/Adrià Soriano Barrera 6-3, 6-1

Overall, Watt and Reynolds reached a remarkable nine Challenger finals across the year, winning five of them, and spent most of the year inside the world’s top 90 in doubles.

ASB Classic, Auckland (January 2026)
Watt was given a rare singles wildcard into the ATP Auckland event, drawing American Jenson Brooksby.

Despite being ranked more than 650 places below his opponent and playing his first ATP Tour-level match, Watt had break chances in both sets before falling 6-4, 6-3. He also played doubles alongside Reynolds, going out in the Round of 16 to Sander Gille/Sem Verbeek.

Davis Cup: promotion to World Group I (February 2026)
Watt was named in New Zealand’s squad for the World Group I play-off against Bosnia & Herzegovina in Whangārei. New Zealand fell 0-2 down after the first day before storming back, with the doubles pairing of Reynolds and Ajeet Rai winning without facing a single break point, and New Zealand completed a 3-2 win. That victory secured New Zealand’s promotion into Davis Cup World Group I for the first time in the team’s recent era, following earlier 2025 wins over Georgia and Jamaica.

Grand Slam debut at Roland-Garros (May 2026)
Watt and Reynolds got their first taste of Grand Slam tennis at the 2026 French Open. They were the fifth alternates on the official draw list, needing four other pairs to withdraw, which happened amid a Paris heatwave, to gain direct entry into the draw of 64, drawing unseeded Czechs Adam Pavlasek and Patrik Rikl. They lost 6-7, 3-6 to the higher-ranked Czech pair but produced high-quality tennis and tested their more experienced opponents.

Career-high rankings
Watt’s career-high singles ranking is No. 569, reached 8 September 2025 (the day before his Davis Cup debut), while his career-high doubles ranking is No. 84, reached 16 March 2026.

Accolades
At the 2025 Tennis in NZ Awards, James Watt was named the NZ Singles Male Player of the Year, the sport’s top domestic individual honour in New Zealand, awarded off the back of his Davis Cup heroics and breakthrough Challenger season.

What’s next
New Zealand’s reward for the promotion is a home World Group I tie against Japan, featuring Kei Nishikori at The Trusts Arena in West Auckland on 19–20 September 2026, with Watt pictured among the squad celebrating the promotion, so he looks set to be involved.