Ram/Salisbury Make Fast Start To US Open Title Defence

Have Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury found their best form in time for another dream run at the US Open?

The defending champions and top seeds were clinical in seeing off Federico Coria and Cristian Rodriguez in the first round on Wednesday at the hard-court Grand Slam, where they clinched the solitary break of serve in both sets to seal a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

[ATP APP]

The American-British duo lifted its second ATP Masters 1000 trophy of 2022 at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati 11 days ago and picked up where it left off with a rock-solid showing in New York. Ram and Salisbury faced no break points and fired 29 winners against their Argentine-Colombian opponents to book a second-round clash against Sander Gille and Lukasz Kubot or Aslan Karatsev and Luke Saville.

Ram and Salisbury are chasing their third Grand Slam crown as a team following their triumphs at the Australian Open in 2020 and in New York a year ago. They have been consistent performers at the majors in 2022, reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon either side of a quarter-final run at Roland Garros.