Krawietz/Puetz win Shanghai, snap 33-year wait for German M1000-winning pair

  • Posted: Oct 12, 2025

Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz etched their names onto an exclusive list in German tennis history on Sunday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

With their 6-4, 6-4 championship-match victory against Andre Goransson and Alex Michelsen in China, Krawietz and Puetz became just the second all-German duo to win a doubles title in ATP Masters 1000 series history (since 1990). The players they have joined on that list? A pair of illustrious singles stars in former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Boris Becker and former World No. 2 Michael Stich, who won the 1992 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters doubles crown together.

“Let’s not put us in any way in the same category as these two,” said the 37-year-old Puetz after lifting his second Masters 1000 crown (he also won the Rolex Paris Masters in 2021 alongside New Zealander Michael Venus. “[My first Masters 1000 title] was very special. Actually, Michael Stich sent me a text message after the first one. I didn’t know him at all, and it was very, very nice of him. He sent me a really nice message after I won in Paris.

“It’s not nicer with Kevin, but it’s definitely different winning it with a countryman… We’re actually genuinely friends, also with our teams. We go see each other, even when we don’t have tournaments. So it’s very, very nice to share that. Obviously, victories are nice, but also to share in defeats. I think all in all we’re just happy with this phase of our careers and our lives to be together in those moments.”

Krawietz and Puetz converted three of eight break points they earned in Sunday’s final, according to Infosys ATP Stats. They let slip a 3-1 lead in the second set but immediately notched a second, decisive break of the set in the seventh game en route to an 83-minute victory.

Having marched to the Shanghai title for the loss of just one set, Krawietz and Puetz have risen one spot to sixth in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings. They are well placed to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, where they lifted the trophy last year.

“We got to the semi-finals, and then after the semi-final I was of course happy to be in the final,” reflected the 33-year-old Krawietz on his Shanghai run with Puetz. “Of course, you want to win the final. Here and there some tight moments, of course, so I had to figure out how to handle it.

“In the end it went the right way, so very happy, very proud. Let’s enjoy the moment now.”

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