TOKYO – Cal alumnus Ben McLachlan and partner Yasutaka Uchiyama capped off a tremendous run in in the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships when they captured the doubles title on Sunday at the Ariake Coliseum. With Her Imperial Highness Princess Mako of Japan in attendance, the pair defeated British player Jaime Murray and Brazilian Bruno Soares, 6-4, 7-6(1), to become the first Japanese duo to claim the title in 12 years.
 
The victory marked the first ATP World Tour team title for McLachlan and Uchiyama, and it lifted the 25-year-old McLachlan 51 spots in Monday's world doubles ranking to No. 80.
 
"It's been wonderful to watch Ben's development from being one of the best juniors in the word, to his four years at Cal (2011-14), and now his incredible success on the pro tour," Cal head coach Peter Wright said. "All of us at Cal were excited to see his breakthrough in Tokyo, and we look forward to following his success in the future."
 
McLachlan and Uchiyama posted a major upset in the Japan Open quarterfinals when they beat U.S. Open champs Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Horia Tecau of Romania – who were also the tournament's top seeds and the third-ranked team in the world – 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-5.
 
They also knocked off the Philippines' Treat Huey and Canada's Adil Shamasdin, 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-7, in the opening round of 16 and later bested Mexico's Santiago Gonzalez and Chile's Julio Peralta, 7-5, 6-4, in the semifinals.
 
McLachlan, who teamed with Uchiyama in Japan's Davis Cup World Group playoff in mid-September, has had a banner year that includes winning the Gwangju Challenger doubles crown with Taipei's Ti Chen on Sept. 24 in South Korea and winning the Internazionali Di Tennis Dell Umbria title with Aussie Steven De Waard on June 25 in Italy.