Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury accomplished their US Open trifecta in September, capturing the title at Flushing Meadows for a 3rd consecutive yr. Now the American-British duo units their sights on one other coveted title protection: the Nitto ATP Finals.
Ram and Salisbury have discovered their type with a late-season surge, claiming the title in two of their previous three occasions. Maybe no higher reminiscence than in New York, the place they captured their fourth main crew trophy.
“We have had nice success there and we have executed nicely. I do not suppose you may ever simply assume that you’ll win a serious,” Ram advised Chris Bowers on the ATP Podcast. “However we appear to play our greatest there for certain. For no matter purpose, I believe lots of issues swimsuit our sport [there] and as tennis gamers, we are inclined to do nicely at locations we have executed nicely earlier than.
“I do suppose it is a fairly substantial achievement that we have been capable of win it 3 times in a row simply because even if you happen to do nicely in play, one thing has to go your approach. And so for that to occur three years in a row was fairly particular for us.”
Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram are topped champions on the 2023 US Open. Credit score: Al Bello/Getty Pictures
Regardless of an uncharacteristically sluggish begin to the season, Ram and Salisbury have certified for the Nitto ATP Finals for a fifth consecutive yr. A second consecutive title in Turin can be the absolute best solution to shut the yr for Ram and Salisbury.
“It is powerful to say it isn’t been a very good yr once we’ve gained a Grand Slam. Had we not gained the US Open, it could have been a really poor yr by our requirements,” Salisbury stated. “However the truth that we did that, we at all times say that we wish to do one of the best on the largest tournaments and we managed to win one of many Grand Slams, in order that’s clearly an enormous achievement.
“Our goal is to be the primary crew. That is form of the requirements that we wish to set ourselves and measure ourselves towards. We’re clearly fairly a good distance off that this yr. Clearly that is fairly excessive requirements to have. However that is the place we wish to be.”
Boasting a 12-5 document collectively on the year-end occasion, the duo has gained 9 of the previous 10 matches in Turin. Their first look resulted in a round-robin exit. Since then, they’ve progressed one step additional every year: semi-finals in 2020, runners-up in 2021 and champions a yr in the past. A sixth journey to the Nitto ATP Finals will solely add to the record of the reminiscences the duo cherishes from the occasion.
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“I believe qualifying my first time simply because it felt prefer it’s such a giant achievement,” Ram stated. “To be there with the highest eight singles guys, it is only a completely different really feel. It is a smaller group of individuals, they do actually make an effort to make you’re feeling particular, which is very nice. Then final yr profitable it, we went undefeated. We acquired shut the yr earlier than, we have been undefeated till the ultimate, however to win it and particularly to go undefeated is absolutely particular.”
Salisbury added, “I believe the primary time we certified was a fairly wonderful expertise. It was the primary full yr that I used to be taking part in with Rajeev. I do not suppose we certified till the Paris Masters, which was fairly wonderful. Simply to be there on that stage taking part in on the O2 Enviornment [in London] was unimaginable. We’ve executed higher every year that we performed it up till profitable it final yr. In order that was an unimaginable solution to end the season and the most effective matches we performed in that last as nicely. It’s a actually particular match.”
from Tennis – ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/KdHXG86
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