By Glenys Furness
- Joe Salisbury & Rajeev Ram runners up at the World Tour Finals
- Salisbury first Brit to make the doubles final
TURIN, ITALY – Joe Salisbury & Rajeev Ram made the final of the World Tour Finals. Salisbury became the first British player to make the doubles final at the end of year event.
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Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram qualified for the end of season event on the ATP tour. The Brit/American pairing were the second seeds. Salisbury & Ram were in the same group as Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares. In the first round robin match, the second seeds were against Murray & Soares. The first set was all one way traffic as Salisbury & Ram dominated. The second set was much closer as Murray & Soares found their game and forced a tiebreak. The second seeds edged ahead in the breaker and took the match in straight sets 6-1, 7-6(5).
The second round robin match for Salisbury & Ram was against third seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut. The French pair won the event in 2019 and were looking to repeat the feat at the new location in Turin. The third seeds stayed toe to toe with the Brit/American in the first set and forced a tiebreak. The breaker was very close, but it was Herbert & Mahut that edged into the lead. The second set saw the Brit/American re-group and dominate to level up the match. In the match tiebreak both teams fought hard, eventually it was the second seeds that edged through to take the win 6-7(9), 6-0, 13-11.
In the final round robin match the second seeds were against fifth seeds Juan SebastiΓ‘n Cabal & Robert Farah. The Colombians pushed the Brit/American in the first set. However, Salisbury & Ram managed to get the vital break of serve to move ahead. The second set saw Cabal & Farah dominate to level up the match. In the ensuing match tiebreak the Brit/American edged ahead to finish top of their group and book a spot in the semi-final 7-5, 2-6, 11-9.
The semi-final saw Salisbury & Ram against the top seeds Mate PaviΔ & Nikola MektiΔ. The Croatians got off to the better start and broke the Brit/American pair to take the lead. However, in the second set Salisbury & Ram fought back and forced a tiebreak. In the breaker the second seeds dominated to level up the match and force a match tiebreak. Salisbury & Ram had their eyes on the final, and the match tiebreak saw the Brit/American stroll through to claim the spot 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-4.
Having made history by making the final, Salisbury & Ram were again playing the third seeds Herbert & Mahut. The French pair managed to break serve in the first set and took the lead. The second set saw a fightback by the Brit/American who forced a tiebreak. Unfortunately, the third seeds dominated the breaker from the start and claimed the win and the trophy 6-4, 7-6(0).
Doubles Round Up
Jamie Murray with Bruno Soares were defeated in all three of their World Tour Final matches and didn’t progress from the group stage.
Jonny O’Mara with Roman Jebavy were defeated by Jurgen Zopp & Otto Virtanen in the first round in Helskini 6-4, 6-4.
Finn Bass & Luke Johnson were defeated by Peter Bertran & Gerardo Lopez Villasenor in the first round in Texas 7-6(5), 6-3.
Mark Whitehouse with Francis Casey Alcantara were defeated by George Goldhoff & Colin Markes in the first round in Texas 6-3, 7-5.
Tad Maclean with Jeremy Schifris were defeated by Robert Cash & James Tracy in the first round in Ohio 6-0, 6-3.
David Hale with Elio Jose Ribeiro Lago were defeated by Adrien Burdet & Leandro Riedi in the first round in Ohio 6-1, 6-2.
Alexis Canter with Dev Javia were defeated by Paras Dahiya & Parkishit Somani in the first round in New Dehli 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-4.
Julian Cash with Zsomber Velcz were defeated by Saketh Myneni & Vishnu Vardhan in the final in New Dehli 6-3, 3-6, 13-11.
Annabella Lammas & India Rojano were defeated by Bai Zhuoxuan & Punnin Kovapitkukted in the first round in Sharm El Sheikh 6-0, 6-0.
Ben Jones & Dan Little defeated Neil Oberleitner & Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi in the final in Sharm El Sheikh 6-3, 6-2.
Blu Baker with Andres Urrea were defeated by Daniel Antonio Nunez & Sebastian Santibanez in the quarter-final in Cundinmarca 6-4, 1-6, 10-7.
Billy Harris with Daniel Michalski were defeated by Bogdan Ionut Apostol & Bogdan Borza in the quarter-final in Antalya 7-5, 6-3.
Emilie Lindh with Lian Tran were defeated by Eleni Christofi & Dimitra Pavlou in the quarter-final in Heraklion 6-4, 6-2.
Andra Sutherland with Beatrice Laura Pirtac were defeated by Ali Collins & Seone Mendez in the first round in Funchal 6-3, 6-1.
Emily Appleton with Yuriko Lily Miyazaki were defeated by Ines Murta & Daniela Vismane in the quarter-final in Funchal 4-6, 7-6(1), 10-6.
Ali Collins with Seone Mendez were defeated by Alicia Barnett & Hsieh Yu-Chieh in the quarter-final in Funchal 7-5, 6-4.
Alicia Barnett with Hsieh Yu-Chieh defeated Ines Murta & Daniela Vismane in the final in Funchal 6-1, 3-6, 10-8.
Amy Leather with Annemarie Lazar were defeated by Beatrice Stagno & Viola Turini in the first round in Solarino 6-4, 6-3.
Holly Hutchinson with Sevil Yuldasheva were defeated by Virginia Ferrara & Georgia Pedone in the quarter-final in Solarino 7-6(6), 6-3.
Next week Brits play in Bari, Manama, Greece, Mexico, Guatemala, India, Egypt, Czech Republic, Turkey, Dubai, Italy, Tunisia & Portugal.
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