Kiwi James Watt wins doubles title in Cairns

South Canterbury’s James Watt has won the doubles title at the ITF $25,000 tournament in Cairns, with his Australian partner Matt Hulme.

In the final on Saturday night they defeated the all-Australian duo of Joshua Charlton and Blake Ellis 6-3 6-7(5) 10-7.

Charlton and Ellis were the tops seeds in the draw, while Watt and Hulme were seeded three.

The title continues a purple patch for Watt. He and Hulme reached back to back doubles finals in Darwin last month, while he also made a singles final in Darwin, going three sets against Omar Jasika, who is ranked over 1100 places higher than him in the world rankings. 

His results in Cairns is predicted to improve his doubles ranking to a career high of 396.

At the beginning of September the 24-year-old Watt was at 645. His current singles ranking of 828 is also a career high.