Australian Open champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury edged past Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 7-5 3-6 10-7 in a hard-fought match in the Group Mike Bryan of the doubles tournament at the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
The first set went on serve with just one break point. Salisbury earned the second break point on Kubot’s serve with a backhand winner in the eighth game. Ram and Salisbury broke serve to take a 5-3 lead, when Kubot made two double faults.
Kubot and Melo earned a break-back point with a forehand down the middle and hit a backhand down the line to get back on serve for 4-5. Melo fended off a set point at 5-4 with a big first serve, but Ram broke serve with a return to clinch the first set 7-5.
Kubot and Melo went up an early break in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead. They earned a double break point as Salisbury made a double fault at 4-2. Kubot hit a backhand return down the line to get the double break.
Ram and Salisbury earned a mini-break to open up a 3-1 lead in the Match Tie-Break. Salisbury smashed a return to open up a 4-2 lead. Ram hit a forehand return winner at 8-4 and closed out the match after 1 hour and 43 minutes.
“It is all to play for the title and the Number 1 in the Doubles Team Rankings. For us, it has been a big goal since we left Australia. We were in the number 1 spot since then and just went to second after Bruno and Mate went above us in Paris”, said Salisbury.
