Ram/Salisbury Claim First Title Of 2023 In Lyon

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury delivered a dominant championship-match performance Saturday at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon, where the American-British pairing downed Nicolas Mahut and Matwe Middelkoop 6-0, 6-3 at the clay-court ATP 250.

The top seeds converted four of five break points they earned to ease to a 60-minute triumph and lift the trophy on event debut in France. After racing through the first set, Ram and Salisbury held their nerve to clinch victory on a deciding deuce point at 5-3, 40/40 after Mahut and Middelkoop threatened a second-set comeback.

Ram and Salisbury lifted four tour-level titles together in 2022, including the Nitto ATP Finals crown in Turin, but had reached only one semi-final on Tour this year prior to Lyon. They now own 10 tour-level trophies as a team, with their Lyon victory providing a big confidence boost before they head to Paris to compete as the second seeds at Roland Garros.