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Rajeev Ram, Joe Salisbury plan to continue partnership following second Slam title

The American-British duo secured the 2021 US Open men’s doubles title over Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares earlier in September.

ByMatt Cronin

Published Sep 16, 2021

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WATCH: Ram and Salisbury first teamed up in 2019, and have won five titles since—including two majors.

The doubles pairing of Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury took a while to get going, but having just won their second Slam, they now want to keep going.

They beat Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray in three sets to win the US Open and, having also won the 2020 Australian Open, have amassed a total of five titles since becoming a team in 2019.

Not only do their games complement each other on court but so do their personalities off the court, says Ram.

"I think just our chemistry and the relationship that we've been able to build, not only with each other but with our whole team, the group that travels around. We enjoy it a lot," the 37-year-old American said. "I guess I'll speak for myself. I don't ever feel like, 'Oh, my gosh, we got to go practice again, I got to see Joe again today.' It's not an issue. We've done a good job of separating, to a certain extent, so we don't get to that point."

The 29-year-old Salisbury agreed, saying the two have found the right way of going about their play and training.

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Seeded No. 4 at the US Open, Salisbury and Ram rallied from a set down to defeat Murray and Soares in the men's doubles final.

"The fact that we get on is a massive thing, on and off the court. Obviously, we enjoy playing together,” said Salisbury, who also won the mixed doubles with another American, Desirae Krawczyk. "Most people can see that. We are great sort of partners to each other. Whether things are going well, or bad, we're there for each other, to support each other.

"Obviously you're going to be together a lot traveling, tournaments, practicing together, all that. But we also don't spend 24/7 together, which I think is good. It's healthy to not spend all your time together while you're at the tournaments. So. I think it's just a good balance. Obviously, the time that we've played together, we've improved as a team."

Ram, the veteran on the team, says their success motivates him to keep playing.

"As long as I keep enjoying it, feel like I can get better and better, have a good thing going, I don't see any reason why I'm going to stop," Ram said. "Whether it's a year, two years, three years, I have no idea. I just kind of take it sort of one week at a time, if you will."

Ram is ranked No. 5 and Salisbury is No. 4 in the ATP doubles rankings.

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