Ram/Salisbury March On At US Open
Fourth seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury continued their quest for their second major title as a team on Friday when they cruised past John Millman and Thiago Monteiro 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round at the US Open.
With victory, last year’s Australian Open champions have become the second doubles team to qualify for the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 14-21 November at the Pala Alpitour in Turin.
Second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos survived a scare as they overcame Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(4) to advance after two hours and 46 minutes.
Seventh seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares also moved on with a 7-6(4), 6-4 victory over Christopher Eubanks and Bjorn Fratangelo, while 13th seeds Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig defeated Australians James Duckworth and Jordan Thompson 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(1).
Israel’s Jonathan Erlich and South African Lloyd Harris booked their spot in the third round with a 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-2 win over Austrians Oliver Marach and Philipp Oswald.
“At 44 years old, I am grateful to still be playing and not taking anything for granted,” Erlich said. “I am really enjoying being here. Playing majors is amazing for me and I am taking it every match. I am loving it. Me and Lloyd are great friends. I try to help him off the court as well as on it, with my experience at majors.”
“I feel like I have been playing well over the summer, making a deep run in Washington and playing pretty well in both ATP Masters 1000 events,” Harris added. “My level has been really high and I hope to keep that momentum going.”