Who is Rajeev Ram, the man who halts the dream run of Rohan Bopanna

The dream run of Rohan Bopanna and his partner Matthew Ebden suffered heartbreak when they lost 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final against Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. The pair won their third straight US doubles title.

Rajeev Ram has been a well-known name in men’s tennis for more than ten years. At the age of 34, the Indian-American won his first Grand Slam championship in the form of a mixed doubles victory at the 2019 Australian Open. Since then, he has won four titles in men’s doubles with Joe Salisbury of the UK and one in mixed doubles, giving him a total of five Grand Slam victories.

Born in Carmel, Indiana, Ram was born to Dr. Ragav and Sushma Ram. He grew up playing at the local Cramel Racquet Club. The club decided to name a court after him in 2021, but Ram asked to change the name as a tribute to his father as Ram Family Championship Court. His father died in 2019 at the age of 68. 

Ram had won a total of nine national junior titles in singles and doubles. playing high school tennis at Carmel, earned All-State honors, became the state singles champion and turned pro in 2004. The pair of Ram and Brain Baker was the runners-up in junior doubles at the 2002 Wimbledon.

Retirement from Singles

Ram retired from singles tennis in 2017. In April 2016, he peaked in the singles rankings at No. 56 in the world, a career-high position. He achieved his first ATP singles victory at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in 2009. He had advanced as a lucky loser, making him one of the few people to succeed despite taking this path to victory. Ram only managed to capture one more singles championship in his career, which occurred in 2015 at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. The following year, he competed in the 2016 Olympics, where he and Venus Williams won the mixed doubles silver medal.

Ram and Salisbury won their first major championship at the Australian Open in 2020, and the following year the pair also advanced to the final, losing to Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek and competed at the US Open for the first time that year, defeating Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in the final. The team moved up to No. 4 in the world doubles rankings as a result. The following year, they successfully defended that title, which also assisted them in moving up the rankings. Ram became the 18th American to reach the top of the doubles rankings and the oldest player to ever hold the title. 

Ram and Salisbury returned to the US Open in 2023 after an average run throughout the year. Although the pair maintained their grip on the major by beating Rohan Bopanna and Ebden 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the highly anticipated final. This win made them the first team since 1968 to win three double titles consecutively at the US Open. The last team to accomplish the feat was Tom Bundy and Maurice MaLoughlin from 1912–1914.