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Joe Salisbury and partner Rajeev Ram reached the final of the ATP World Tour on Saturday
The duo will compete against the experienced duo of Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the final
Salisbury and Ram enter as defending champions after winning the title last year
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Joe Salisbury will once again fly the British flag on the final day of the regular tour season after he and his doubles partner Rajeev Ram held their nerve to reach the climax of the ATP Finals in Turin.
The Anglo-American duo will get the chance to defend their title after edging past Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6, 3-6, 10-7 last night to remain undefeated in the year-end championships so far.
They were on the court last night as an omen for the rematch of this year’s Wimbledon final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz to determine who will meet local hero Jannik Sinner in today’s singles final.
By the time the duo arrived, US Open champions Salisbury and Ram were preparing for a showdown with the other form pair, experienced Spanish-Argentine pair Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.
Ram, 39, had had to call in the physio to treat a minor stomach muscle injury during an extremely hard-fought match, which was in doubt until the last point.
Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram earned their place in the ATP World Tour Final on Sunday
The pair got past Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin to book their place in the final
Excellent backhands from Salisbury brought them back from 2-4 in the first tiebreak to claim the score at 7-6. They were outplayed in the second set, but took the lead to 4-1 in the decisive tiebreak of the ‘champions’.
A brilliant volley from Salisbury kept them ahead for 8-7, and Ram held steady to execute his final two serves to put them over the line 10-7.
Earlier in the day, Sinner drove his home crowd wild by becoming the first from the host country to reach the final of this event, thanks to a 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 victory over Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.
The red Italian from Tyrol in the north of the country continues to put up impressive numbers in the final stages of the season and it looks increasingly likely that he will be a permanent fixture at the top of the sport once he can stay for more than five sets .
Since overcoming an illness during the tour’s Chinese swing, he has amassed an 8-0 record against top 10 opponents, including defeating Djokovic in the round-robin stage of this event. It may be tempting to overestimate results at this time of year, but that’s more than just gaining confidence against his elite rivals.
Salisbury and Ram defeated Croatian duo Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic to take the title last year
A measure of his talent is that he is the youngest player to reach the climax of the ATP Finals while remaining undefeated since Roger Federer.
Under the tutelage of Australian Darren Cahill, his service has improved significantly over the course of the season, contributing to the clean ball striking from the back of the pitch and the impressive coverage of the pitch.
He was thus able to withstand the Russian’s hugely aggressive forehand attacks and his serve was not broken once, although he went down 7-4 in the tiebreak. He ultimately cruised to victory, carried by the cheers of a partisan crowd, and it appears he’s ready to take a major step next season.