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© Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour
Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury have won three Grand Slam titles as a team.
Roger-Vasselin/Gonzalez save six match points to book third-round spot
Fourteen consecutive wins and counting for Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury at the US Open.
The American-British pair maintained its perfect start to the 2023 edition of the hard-court major with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory against Ben McLachlan and Yoshihito Nishioka on Saturday. Ram and Salisbury held their nerve in the second-set tie-break to seal their second straight-sets win of the week and book a third-round clash with Mackenzie McDonald and Andreas Mies.
Ram and Salisbury are chasing their fourth major title this fortnight in New York, where they lifted the trophy in 2021 and 2022. A strong run at the final major of the year would also boost the pair’s position in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings. Last year’s Nitto ATP Finals champions are currently 15th as they chase a fifth consecutive appearance at the season finale.
Second seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek had a less straightforward passage to the third round. The Croatian-American duo let slip three match points in the second set before beating Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4. Grand Slam champions already this season at Roland Garros, Dodig and Krajicek will next take on home wild cards Denis Kudla and Vasil Kirkov, who beat Matwe Middelkoop and Mate Pavic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Other second-round winners on Day 6 at Flushing Meadows included seventh seeds Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Santiago Gonzalez, who saved six match points in the second set before downing Nicolas Barrientos and Andre Goransson 7-6(5), 6-4. Roger-Vasselin and Gonzalez had trailed 2-5 in the second set before rallying to a thrilling two-hour, 53-minute win.
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