Ram and Salisbury beat Mektic and Pavic, rival duo from Spain

Rajeev Ram (United States, 38 years old) and Joe Salisbury (Great Britain, 30) were proclaimed champions of the ATP Finals beating Croatians Nikola Mektic (33) and Mate Pavic (29) 7-6 (4) and 6-4 in the doubles finalthe duo that will face Spain in the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup Finals, next Wednesday in Malaga.

The two couples arrived undefeated (it had not happened since 2021, when Fitzgerald-Jarryd beat Flach-Seguso) to the match for a title that they had never won together, so Ram and Salisbury took the largest prize obtained by a champion duo in tennis history: $ 930,300 (900,000 euros). Among the four finalists there was only one winner of the Masters Cup, Mektic, which was in 2020 with the Dutchman Wesley Koolhof. Ram and Salisbury had cherished the trophy in 2021, but fell to Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.

The winners, second seeds, close the season with four titles, but all of them prestigious: the Monte Carlo and Cincinnati Masters 1,000, the US Open and the ATP Finals. Ram is number three in the world and Salisbury, four. The 91% first serve points they won made it very difficult for Mektic and Pavic to find break options, in fact they only had one and didn’t convert it.

proud

“It has been one of our best games as a team, I am very proud and happy for this achievement and for everything we have done this week,” said Salisbury, the first British Finals champion. “My partner has played like someone who is not from this world, he is one of the best in the big moments”, praised Ram.