YOKOHAMA, March 3, 2018
Tobias Kamke and Tim Pütz clinched the doubles title of the $75,000 Keio Challenger International Tennis Tournament 2018 held at Keio University in Yokohama. The German tandem upset No. 1 seeds Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana of Thailand 3-6, 7-5, 12-10 in Saturday’s doubles final.
Kamke and Pütz won four points less than their opponents but were wide awake in the match tie-break to prevail after one hour and 17 minutes. It was the first team title for the Germans. They split $4,650 in prize money and earn 80 ATP ranking points.
Tim Pütz and Tobias Kamke
“First of all, I would like to say congratulation to Sonchat and Sanchai for playing in the finals, it is always tough to lose in the finals but it was a close final and was a great final to play,” told Kamke, who lifted his third ATP Challenger doubles trophy.
“Second, I would like to thank my partner Tim for playing doubles with me from last week’s tournament. It really became a nice week for us. And I would like also thanks to my coach for staying for me for two weeks with me.
“Then I would like to say thanks to all the people who has been involved in this tournament, ball boys, linesmen, umpires, supervisors, sponsors, and all the officials who has made it possible challenger tournament play here. We enjoyed playing here until the last day in Yokohama. We don’t know if we can come back and play next year yet but maybe we can come back next year. Thank You“.
Tim Pütz added:
“Congrats to Sonchat and Sanchai, sorry for the lose but it was one way or another, and good luck for the next tournament. Also, I like to thank all the people who came out to watch, it is nicer to play with more spectators compared to the first two days.
“And of course thanks to the people who run the tournament, I know it is not easy to run a tournament like this, I know it is challenging and you need a lot of volunteers but here it is doing well. Lot of people are helping us with everything, because sometimes it is not easy for the players in different environment, so thanks to the whole organization and good luck next year.”
Uchiyama Into Singles Final
Earlier in the day, Yasutaka Uchiyama of Japan knocked out the tournament’s No. 1 Jordan Thompson from Australia 6-4, 7-5 to reach the singles final. The 25-year-old Tokyo resident capitalized on five of his 10 break point chances to advance in one hour and 41 minutes.
Uchiyama will take on compatriot Tatsuma Ito on Sunday. The No. 7 seed received a walkover into the title match and leads 2-1 in the pair’s head-to-head record.
