Ram, Salisbury reach US Open men's doubles final, aim for third straight title in Flushing Meadows

NEW YORK (AP) — Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury have a chance for the first U.S. Open men's doubles three-peat in more than 90 years.

The No. 3-seeded team pulled out a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over the No. 2-seeded duo of Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek on Thursday, moving into the finals with their 17th straight victory in Flushing Meadows.

Ram and Salisbury will face 43-year-old Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, the No. 6 seeds, on Friday. Bopanna and Ebden beat the veteran French team of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the first semifinal.

Ram, an American, and Salisbury, from Britain, haven't lost at the U.S. Open since the 2020 semifinals. They are the first team to reach three straight finals in Flushing Meadows since the famed Australian duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde from 1994-96, and can become the first to win it three straight times since Americans John Doeg and George Lott Jr. from 1928-30.

They surged ahead by breaking Dodig's serve in the second game of the third set en route to a 3-0 lead, and the 39-year-old Ram eventually closed it out with a dominant service game in which Dodig and Krajicek could only get one ball back into play.

Bopanna, from India, and Ebden, an Australian, cruised through the second set in 29 minutes after needing 65 minutes to take the first. Bopanna became the oldest men's doubles Grand Slam finalist in the Open era, dating to 1968, and can win his first major men's doubles title.

Ebden is seeking his second, having joined fellow Australian Max Purcell to win Wimbledon in 2022.