James Watt pushes player ranked 1100 places higher in final

James Watt has lost in the final of the ITF $25,000 tournament in Darwin, Australia going three sets against a player ranked over 1100 places higher than him in the world rankings.

The 24-year-old from South Canterbury was playing in just the second ITF final of his career on Sunday, having won four tough matches to get that far, three times needing to go three sets.

For the title, the world No 1329 went up against Omar Jasika from Australia, who is ranked 226.

Watt got off to a storming start, taking the first set 6-1, but then lost the next two 6-3 and 6-4.

Even though Watt lost the match, he won more points in the final than Jasika, who claimed his fifth ITF Futures title of the year and also extended his unbeaten streak to 22 matches.

Despite the loss, it was an incredible achievement from the 2.06m tall Watt to not only reach the final, but then push Jasika to three sets. 

Watt’s only other ITF Futures final was in Wellington in 2022, when he lost to Ajeet Rai.