Number 11 seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury clinched their first doubles Grand Slam title at the Australian Open after beating Australian wild cards Max Purcell and Luke Saville 6-4 6-2 in 1 hour and 10 minutes. The US and British team dropped just set in their six matches at the tournament en route to reaching the final.
Ram and Salisbury converted just one of their ten break point chances and did not face a break point in the opening set. They converted both of their break point chances in the second set. They won 89 % of their first serve points.
Purcell saved four break points at 1-1 in the first set. Saville fended off another chance in the fifth game. Ram and Salisbury earned the first break on their seventh break point chance, as Purcell was serving at 3-3. The British and US players won 20 of their 24 points in their service games to seal the opening set.
Ram and Salisbury broke serve in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead, after Purcell missed a volley into the net. Ram and Salisbury went up a double break in the fifth game and dropped just seven points on serve. Ram closed out the match with another big serve after 70 minutes.
Ram already won the mixed doubles title with her partner Krejcikova in last year’s edition of the Australian Open. The US player made his 58th appearance in doubles tournament at Grand Slam level, breaking the Open Era record for most attempts before winning a Grand Slam men’s doubles championships.
Ram and Salisbury clinched two men’s doubles titles in 2019 in Dubai and Vienna, reached the quarter final at Roland Garros and qualified for the ATP Finals in London.
“To finally get one is great. It doesn’t feel like it’s been the same level of intensity as it has been in the last three or four years”,said Ram.
Purcell and Saville became the first wild card team to qualify for the men’s doubles final in Australian Open history. The Aussie team have won eight ATP Challenger titles since the start of 2019.
“I felt like we probably did not quite play our best today, but even if we did, it would have been the same result”, said Saville.
