Reynolds, Watt claim Challenger title in Texas, reach career-high rankings

Kiwis Finn Reynolds and James Watt have taken out the doubles title at the ATP Challenger tournament in Tyler, Texas.

In the final, they convincingly defeated Alex Martinez from Spain and Colombia’s Soriano Barrera 6-3 6-1 in just 52 minutes.

It wasn’t until the fifth game that Reynolds and Watt got their first break of serve, but from that moment they took control of the match, allowing their opponents to win just two more games for the remainder of the final.

This is the first Challenger title Reynolds and Watt have won together this year, having lost  in the final in Morelos, Mexico and Ostrava, Czechia.

As a result of this week’s success, Reynolds is projected to move up to 125 in the world rankings for doubles and Watt to 165, which are career highs for both of them.

Meanwhile, the draw has taken place for the WTA 250 tournament in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

In the first round Lulu Sun has been drawn against local hope Anouck Vrancken Peeters, who is ranked 519 in the world.

If the seventh seeded Sun wins that match, she will play the winner of the match between Bianca Andreescu and a qualifier in the second round.

Sun has also entered the doubles and will team up with Ann Li to take on Katarzyna Piter and Nina Stojanovic.

Michael Venus is also in ’s-Hertogenbosch this week, where he and Nikola Mektic are the top seeds. They will play Theo Arribage and Marcelo Demoliner in the first round.

At the WTA 500 tournament at Queen’s, London, Erin Routliffe has teamed up with Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok. They are the top seeds and have been drawn against the British duo of Jodie Burrage and Sonny Kartal in the opening round.