Nearly two weeks had handed since then Rajiv Ram was painfully near an Olympic gold medal once more.
“It is nonetheless arduous,” he mentioned in an interview this month. “Even many days later, it is nonetheless arduous. I knew what an incredible alternative this was.”
In Ram’s Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, he settled for combined doubles silver with Venus Williams. Eight years later in Paris, it was silver againthis time in males’s doubles.
Ram and a fellow American Austin Krycek obtained their album second eliminating the Spanish superstars Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz within the quarterfinals in entrance of a middle court docket crowd at Roland Garros that was hardly in Crew USA’s nook.
“Even when I do not get cheered, I am going to take that environment any day of the week,” Ram mentioned.
However Rahm and Krycek couldn’t maintain on to a lead within the second set of the ultimate and misplaced the gold in a match tiebreak to Matt Ebdon and John Pierce of Australia by the crepe-thin margin of 10-8.
It damage much more as a result of Ram is 40 years previous and can most certainly not play within the Olympics once more.
“Did I need it an excessive amount of? “Yeah, possibly,” he mentioned.
However Rahm, who peaked in tennis later than most, nonetheless has two Olympic medals and is now again in a high-profile occasion the place bounces and massive factors did it. He and companion Joe Salisbury are driving an 18-match profitable streak on the US Open and are first doubles team in over a century to win three consecutive males’s titles on the occasion.
They gained the primary in 2021 after saving 4 match factors within the quarter-finals in opposition to Ebden and Max Purcell.
“A type of match factors was on their serve and we most likely ought to have gotten out of there,” Ram mentioned. “As a substitute, we began this streak of three US Opens in a row. So, it goes each methods. Bear in mind those that sting. However I have been on the opposite facet of that as nicely.”
Rahm, a easy attacker with a strong serve and forehand, and Salisbury, a fast and sometimes acrobatic Brit who’s eight years youthful, are a complementary pair.
“We will begin with athleticism,” Ram mentioned. “I haven’t got it and he has a great deal of it, in order that helps. He is likely one of the greatest athletes I’ve ever seen on a tennis court docket. I really feel like one among my biggest strengths is my psychological readability and whatnot, and I feel that is helped together with my expertise.”
Ram and Salisbury have struggled with their excessive requirements this season, failing to win a title on the Adelaide Worldwide in Australia in January, but additionally had an inconsistent season final 12 months earlier than discovering their approach and profitable the Open.
Ram mentioned he believes communication expertise are much more vital to elite doubles success than shot-making expertise.
“The toughest factor I needed to be taught and get higher at once I was simply taking part in doubles was to change into an incredible teammate,” he mentioned. “Impulsively I am basing my entire profession, my livelihood, not simply on me, however on the particular person subsequent to me, proper? Considered one of my largest duties in {couples} is ensuring I am creating an atmosphere on my facet of the community the place my companion can thrive.”
With Salisbury, Ram compelled himself to change into extra demonstrative on the court docket to raise his shutout companion. “If he is keen to do this, after all he is keen to vary his return grip or strive a special volley tactic,” mentioned Eric Butorak, the manager director of the US Tennis Affiliation, who partnered Rahm for his first title at 2009 ATP Doubles “For those who’re keen to go exterior of your pure conduct on the court docket, it exhibits you are keen to do no matter it takes.”
Ram took an unconventional path to tennis success, receiving little formal instruction in his earliest years whereas taking part in along with his father, Raghav, a scholar and leisure participant.
Rahm fell in love with tennis within the Nineties, a decade stuffed with nice American gamers, and his function mannequin was the longtime No. Pete Sampras. Ram’s serve, which swings again onto his left heel, is a casual tribute to Sampras.
“I’ve a cupboard stuffed with previous VHS tapes for these older individuals who will most likely learn this, and Pete’s matches have been the vast majority of the gathering,” Ram mentioned.
Ram mentioned he beat his father for the primary time on the age of 11 and went on to change into one of many prime juniors within the nation. He performed one season of faculty tennis on the College of Illinois, serving to his undefeated crew win the NCAA Championship in 2003. He turned skilled in 2004 and reached the No. 56 singles rating in 2016. He turned a doubles specialist the next season and has performed with greater than 100 completely different companions in any respect ranges in his skilled profession.
He gained his first Grand Slam combined doubles title with Barbora Krejcikova on the 2019 Australian Open when his father was significantly ailing with pancreatic most cancers. He died later that 12 months.
“I do know for a incontrovertible fact that I would not be right here doing this if it wasn’t for him and the hassle he put in,” Ram mentioned. “We love tennis. We love the story of it and for him to truly see me maintain an enormous trophy and for me to have the ability to deliver it house to carry was fairly cool.
Ram has gained six main doubles titles and reached No. 1 in 2022. He attributes the longevity of his profession to studying to deal with his physique (he has not had surgical procedure because of damage) and the help of his spouse Zainab Saqib, who works remotely and may usually journey with him. However primarily, Ram credit it to the best way he was launched to the sport
“My dad and mother made certain that tennis was at all times my selection it doesn’t matter what,” he mentioned. “The second I finished having fun with it was the second I needed to cease.”
