James Watt vs Sho ShimabukuroPrediction, Head-to-Head Results, and Stats
James Watt and Sho Shimabukuro have met 2 times since 2025; Sho Shimabukuro leads 2–0. Their first meeting came at Zhangjiagang Challenger in 2025 on hard. On hard courts Shimabukuro leads 2–0. Shimabukuro has won the last 2 meetings. Across all meetings Watt has taken 2 sets to Shimabukuro's 4. Their most recent meeting: Sho Shimabukuro won at Davis Cup, Group I, 1R, NZL-JPN 1-3 (2026).
Spread & Straight-Sets Form
Completed best-of-3 matches · Last 12 months
| Indicator | Watt | Shimabukuro | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicator | James Watt | Sho Shimabukuro | ||
| Wins in straight sets | 89% | 8/9 | 67% | 29/43 |
| Wins a set when losing | 40% | 4/10 | 38% | 11/29 |
| Goes to a deciding set | 26% | 5/19 | 35% | 25/72 |
| Covers −1.5 sets as favorite | 57% | 4/7 | 51% | 21/41 |
| Covers +1.5 sets as underdog | 67% | 8/12 | 52% | 15/29 |
| Tiebreak sets won | 67% | 8/12 | 65% | 15/23 |
| Wins after taking set 1 | 75% | 9/12 | 86% | 38/44 |
| Wins 2-0 after taking set 1 | 67% | 8/12 | 66% | 29/44 |
Colored rows are higher-is-better: green above 50%, red below. Favorite/underdog set by book odds; cover rows count only matches with odds on record. Head-to-head: 0 of 2 completed meetings ended in straight sets (Watt 0, Shimabukuro 0).
Style Matchup
Playing styles and historical archetype record
Watt
🤖 Servebot
Shimabukuro
🤖 Servebot
Matchup analysis
Both James Watt and Sho Shimabukuro are 🤖 Servebot types. Mirror matchups usually come down to execution, fitness, and surface fit, across 6,464 matches in our dataset the historical split is about even.
Previous meetings
2 career meetings, newest first
Sep 19, 2026
Davis Cup, Group I, 1R, NZL-JPN 1-3
H Hard · Rubber 2
Aug 26, 2025
Zhangjiagang Challenger
H Hard · 1st Round
Player ROI
Hypothetical if you put 1u on each player to win every one of their matches · Last 90 days
| Metric | Watt | Shimabukuro |
|---|---|---|
| W-L | 1–2 | 4–9 |
| Avg odds | 3.52 | 2.31 |
| ROI % | +33.0% | -58.3% |
| Units P/L | +0.99u | -7.58u |
Small sample: ROI stabilizes with more matches; fewer than 10 in the window is noisy.
Travel
Last 30 days
| Metric | Watt | Shimabukuro |
|---|---|---|
| Countries | — | 2 |
| Events | — | 3 |
| Matches | — | 3 |
| Distance | — | 2,283 mi · 3,674 km |
| Route | — | CHN → JPN → CHN |
Host country from each tournament in the last 30 days, including the current event even when a player arrived on a bye. Route is the order of countries visited; consecutive stops in the same country are shown once. Distance is the great-circle total between host cities, shown only when every stop in the window is geocoded. A rough fatigue signal, not a headline stat.
Common opponents
Results vs. opponents both players faced · Last 12 months
Shimabukuro has a higher win rate against shared opponents (100% vs Watt's 0%).
| Opponent | Watt | Shimabukuro |
|---|---|---|
| Bernard Tomic | L | W 63 63 |
| Yuki Mochizuki | L 63 36 67 | W 64 62 |
Recent Form
Last five matches per player
Sho Shimabukuro
Davis Cup, Group I, 1R, NZL-JPN 1-3 · Rubber 2
Sep 19
Ugo Blanchet
Quebec City Challenger · 3rd Round Qualifying
Aug 18
Tristan Boyer
Quebec City Challenger · 1st Round Qualifying
Aug 17
Alastair Gray
Lexus Nottingham Open · 2nd Round Qualifying
Jun 14
Timofey Skatov
Lexus Nottingham Open · 1st Round Qualifying
Jun 13
Daniel Evans
Lexus Ilkley Open · 1st Round Qualifying
Jun 7
Harry Wendelken
Birmingham Challenger · 1st Round
Jun 2
August Holmgren
Lexus Birmingham Open · 2nd Round Qualifying
Jun 1
Miomir Kecmanovic
Shanghai Rolex Masters - Shanghai · 1st Round
Oct 7
Denis Shapovalov
Japan Open Tennis Championships - Tokyo · 1st Round
Oct 1
Hugo Gaston
Hangzhou Open - Hangzhou · 1st Round
Sep 24
Anton Shepp
Davis Cup, Group I, 1R, NZL-JPN 1-3 · Rubber 4
Sep 20
James Watt
Davis Cup, Group I, 1R, NZL-JPN 1-3 · Rubber 2
Sep 19
Arthur Rinderknech
U.S. Open - New York · 1st Round
Aug 30
Miomir Kecmanovic
Winston-Salem Open - Winston-Salem · 1st Round
Aug 23
Hubert Hurkacz
Cincinnati Open - Cincinnati · 1st Round
Aug 14
Rivalry momentum
Cumulative head-to-head lead over time
Win rate
Matches, sets and games won · Last 12 months · 19–74 matches
| Metric | Watt | Shimabukuro |
|---|---|---|
| Matches won | 47% | 58% |
| Sets won | 51% | 56% |
| Games won | 50% | 51% |
Record by tier
Head-to-head record by tournament tier
| Stage | Watt | Shimabukuro |
|---|---|---|
| Other | 0 | 1 |
| ATP Challenger Tour | 0 | 1 |
By surface
Head-to-head record per surface
| Surface | Watt | Shimabukuro |
|---|---|---|
| Hard | 0 | 2 |
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