Ram, Salisbury clinch men’s doubles crown

The hometown pair’s surprise run at Melbourne Park came to a screeching halt against the 11th seeds, who strolled to a 6-4, 6-2 victory in 70 minutes on a balmy afternoon at the Rod Laver Arena. Such was the domination of Salisbury and Ram, who won the Australian Open mixed doubles title with

Czech Barbora Krejcikova last year, that they did not face a single break point in the match. The duo converted one of its 10 break point chances in the opening set and marched to a one-sided victory with two more breaks in the second.

The 35-year-old Ram, who turned professional in 2004, switched to playing doubles full-time three years ago and was making his 58th Grand Slam doubles appearance.

“I spent probably until 2016 prioritising singles. I happened to be ranked high enough to get into these slams, but it (doubles) wasn’t really something I worked at,” said Ram. “It feels more like I started my doubles career in 2017. I’ve been at it for a while for sure. To actually finally get one title is great.”