New Zealand\u2019s James Watt will step onto Centre Court on Monday carrying both a wildcard and a question mark, as he prepares to face American Jenson Brooksby in the opening round of the ASB Classic.<\/p>\n
For Watt, the main-draw wildcard represents more than just a rare singles opportunity at ATP Tour level. It is a moment he has imagined since childhood, watching Auckland\u2019s summer showpiece and seeing the game\u2019s biggest servers light up Centre Court.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an awesome, awesome privilege,\u201d Watt said of being given the singles wildcard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember dreaming about it as a kid, going out on Centre Court watching John Isner play, bombing serves, so I\u2019d like to try and replicate that if I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old arrives in Auckland in an unusual position. While his singles ranking sits at 705, Watt has built an impressive doubles r\u00e9sum\u00e9, climbing to world No 87 alongside fellow Kiwi Finn Reynolds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That ranking puts the pair on the cusp of regular entry into ATP Tour events and grand slams.<\/p>\n
It has been a steady rise rather than a sudden leap. Watt says his professional career began as an experiment after college, one he committed to fully so he would have no regrets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started off as giving it a go, coming out of college,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I was playing good tennis, and I didn\u2019t want to have any regrets once I stopped playing tennis, so I wanted to give it a full crack on the Tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEach year I\u2019ve climbed up the rankings, going from Futures to Challengers and now this year at ATP level. I\u2019ve ridden off that confidence and enjoying the game really.\u201d<\/p>\n
That upward trajectory was reflected in what Watt regards as a highly successful 2025 season, particularly in doubles, where he broke into the world\u2019s top 100. Importantly for this week\u2019s wildcard, he also continued to make gains in singles despite playing a reduced schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally successful, both from a doubles perspective, breaking into the top 100 and singles as well,\u201d he said. \u201cI still climbed up the rankings only playing part time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The challenge now is deciding how, or whether, to continue juggling both disciplines as he\u2019s on the verge of making a successful career as a doubles player on the ATP Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019m figuring out,\u201d Watt said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of dependent on how these next few months play out, and where I end up ranking wise.\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledges the practical realities. Doubles offers a clearer pathway to a sustainable ATP-level career, while singles remains the more uncertain option. But he is not ready to close that door.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a weigh-up between the two,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, with doubles, I\u2019m very close to breaking into being at that ATP level consistently and making a good career out of that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m also aware that I have the ability to do it in singles as well. It\u2019s sort of what makes sense at the time, and at the moment, I think doubles is leading the way. But I\u2019m weighing it up as I go.\u201d<\/p>\n
That belief in his singles credentials was reinforced last September during New Zealand\u2019s Davis Cup tie against Georgia, where Watt played in, and won, two singles rubbers,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat kind of reinforced my capabilities in singles and ability to handle the pressure,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way that doubles is played is very similar to how I play my singles as well, shorter points, coming in, volleying, serve-volley style, and that translates to singles very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Watt says he has leaned heavily on the example and advice of New Zealand\u2019s established doubles stars Michael Venus, Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak, all of whom forged long careers at the top level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose guys have been awesome role models for me,\u201d Watt said. \u201cThey give me a lot of advice and mentorship, with these decisions as well. I\u2019m very appreciative and lucky to have those guys who have paved the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watt will play doubles with Reynolds at the ASB Classic, but for the start of this week the focus narrows to one match.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Drawing Brooksby gives Watt a demanding first-round assignment, but one he approaches with intent rather, and with his huge serve, why not?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand\u2019s James Watt will step onto Centre Court on Monday carrying both a wildcard and a question…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405684,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-405683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}