Rajeev Ram ( ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. Ram is a five-time

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open, and the 2022 US Open in men's doubles with

Joe Salisbury Joe Salisbury ( ; born 20 April 1992) is a British professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open and the 2022 US Open in men's ...

, as well as Australian Open mixed doubles titles in 2019 and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

alongside

Barbora Krejčíková Barbora Krejčíková (; born 18 December 1995) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2, achieved on 28 February 2022, and on 22 October 2018, she became List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles ten ...

. Ram also won a mixed doubles silver medal with

Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...

at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, and finished runner-up in men's doubles at the 2021 Australian Open, and in mixed doubles at the 2016 US Open. He reached his career-high doubles

ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...

of world No. 1 on 3 October 2022, and has won 23 doubles titles on the

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organ ...

, including four at

Masters 1000 The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...

level. Ram has qualified for the

ATP Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...

on six occasions, winning the title in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, having finished as runner-up in both 2016 and

. Prior to his retirement from singles in 2017, Ram reached a career-high ranking of world No. 56 in April 2016, and won two ATP singles titles, at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in both 2009 and 2015. He made his

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

debut for the United States in 2021, and competed at the 2016 and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Olympic Games.

Personal

Ram was born to Indian parents Raghav and Sushma Ram. Table tennis, cricket, and music are some of his interests.

Early career

In his junior career, Ram won a total of nine national junior titles, including singles and doubles. Amongst his titles were the National Claycourt 14-and-under singles title, the boys' 16-and-under national championship, the 18-and-under Easter Bowl title, and the Target Cup tournaments. In addition to his nine junior titles, Ram played high school tennis at

Carmel Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...

, earned All-State honors, became th
state singles champion
and earned a scholarship in both 1998 and 1999. Rajeev earned a wildcard entry into the Juniors' 2001 US Open. Ram participated in all of the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

junior tournaments. He was the runner-up in juniors doubles at the 2002

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, partnered with Brian Baker. Ram then delayed enrollment at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universit ...

until January 2003 so that he could continue to play tennis as an amateur on the pro circuit. During his one semester as a ringer at Illinois, he won the national doubles title with Brian Wilson and helped the Fighting Illini go undefeated (32–0) and win the 2003 NCAA team championship.

Professional years

2007-08

In 2007, he won five doubles Challenger titles partnering Bobby Reynolds, and reached three other finals on his way to a career-high doubles ranking of No. 62. On July 5, 2008, Ram won the Nielsen USTA Pro Tennis Championship in Winnetka, Illinois for his first career Challenger-level singles title.

2009: First ATP singles and doubles titles

He won his first ATP doubles title in Chennai, India 2009 with compatriot

Eric Butorac Eric Butorac (born May 22, 1981), nicknamed Booty, is an American retired professional tennis player. He was a doubles specialist, and for a period of approximately six years was the No. 3 ranked American doubles player. His best result was reac ...

. On July 10, 2009, Ram accomplished the unusual feat of winning four professional-level tennis matches in one day. At the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Rhode Island, the tournament had been rained out early in the week, pushing back many scheduled matches. On July 10, Ram advanced to the singles semifinals with wins over

Samuel Groth Samuel Groth OLY, MP (born 19 October 1987) is an Australian politician and a former professional tennis player. Sitting as a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Groth represents the Liberal Party in the seat of Nepean. He is also th ...

and

Jesse Levine Jesse Levine (born October 15, 1987) is an American-Canadian former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles rank of world No. 69 on October 1, 2012. Levine represented the United States through 2012, and he represented Can ...

and then partnered with

Jordan Kerr Jordan Kerr (born 26 October 1979, in Adelaide) is a retired Australian professional tennis player. Kerr reached a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 356, which he achieved on 7 August 2000. Additionally, he reached a career high ATP ...

to advance to the doubles semifinals with wins over

Arnaud Clément Arnaud Clément (; born 17 December 1977) is a French former professional tennis player and Davis Cup captain. Clément reached the final of the 2001 Australian Open and achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 10 in April of that year. Part ...

Olivier Rochus Olivier Rochus (; born 18 January 1981) is a retired Belgian tennis player. He is the younger brother of Christophe Rochus, also a former top-40 tennis player. Rochus won two singles titles in his career and in 2004 won the French Open doubles ...

and

Nicolas Mahut Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at the ...

Fabrice Santoro Fabrice Vetea Santoro (born 9 December 1972) is a French retired tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career, and he is ...

. Mahut, Santoro, and Rochus each played three matches that day, though none of them won all their matches. Ram then beat Rochus and

Sam Querrey Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...

on consecutive days to capture his first ATP title. He accomplished the rare feat of winning a title as a

Lucky loser A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw, usually when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness, injury ...

and also captured the doubles title. In Atlanta in July 2010, he won his first doubles title with American

Scott Lipsky Scott Lipsky (born August 14, 1981 in Merrick, New York) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. As a player, Lipsky was primarily a doubles specialist. As a junior, Lipsky was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in singles in 1995, a ...

, defeating

Rohan Bopanna Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...

and

Kristof Vliegen Kristof Vliegen (born 22 June 1982) is a Belgian former tennis player. He plays right-handed and he turned professional in 2001. He was a semi-finalist in Chennai in 2006 and in May of the same year, he reached the final of the ATP tourname ...

for the outdoor hard-court

Atlanta Tennis Championships The Atlanta Open (known for sponsorship reasons as the Truist Atlanta Open), is a professional men's tennis tournament that has been played in the Atlanta area in the United States since 2010, usually during July or August. The tournament is pl ...

. In the semifinals, Lipsky and Ram had defeated

John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...

and James Blake. In November, they won a tournament in Eckental, Germany.

2011

Ram started 2011 strong, partnering with Lipsky in February to take the indoor hard court San Jose Open (over

Christopher Kas Christopher Kas (born 13 June 1980) is a retired German tennis player. Kas has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 224, which he achieved in November 2002. He also has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 17, achieved in Februa ...

from Germany and

Alexander Peya Alexander Peya (born 27 June 1980) is an Austrian male tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 92 in April 2007. His career-high doubles ranking is World No. 3, first achieved in August 2013. In September 2008 Peya h ...

from Austria) and the outdoor hard court

Delray Beach Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles (83 kilometers) north of Miami, Delray Beach is in the ...

titles (over

Alejandro Falla Alejandro Falla Ramírez (; born 14 November 1983) is a retired professional male tennis player from Colombia. The left-hander turned pro in 2000 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 48 in July 2012. At the 2006 Wimbledon t ...

from Colombia and

Xavier Malisse Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a former Belgian professional tennis player. Born in the north-western Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed ''X-Man'', he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being David Goffin) to have been ranked ...

from Belgium). In June, he and Lipsky advanced to the quarterfinals at the 2011 French Open.

2013

In 2013, he teamed with

, and in Dubai, they reached the semifinals.

2014: First Grand Slam doubles semifinal

At the 2014 US Open (tennis) he reached his first Grand Slam semifinal partnering

where they were defeated by top seeds and eventual champions,

the Bryan brothers The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are retired American professional doubles tennis players and the most successful duo of all time. They were born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being the elder by two minutes. ...

2015: Second ATP singles title

At the

Hall of Fame Tennis Championships The Infosys Hall of Fame Open is an international tennis tournament that has been held every year in July since 1976 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, the original location of the U.S. National Championships. The ...

, he reached his second career final and won his second career ATP singles title by defeating

Ivo Karlovic Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages. The name used in western European languages originates as a Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves is a variant of it. The unrelated So ...

2016: Olympic silver, first Grand Slam mixed doubles final, ATP Tour Finals runner-up

At the

Delray Beach Open The Delray Beach Open is an ATP World Tour 250 series men's professional tennis tournament held each year in Delray Beach, Florida, United States, and played on hard courts. It was previously known as America's Red Clay Championships, Citrix Ten ...

, Ram reached his third career final and first singles final outside the grass courts of the Hall of Fame Open, losing to Sam Querrey. At the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, he won silver with

in mixed doubles. Less than a month later, Ram and

CoCo Vandeweghe Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...

advanced to the mixed doubles final at the US Open, where they were defeated in straight sets by

Mate Pavić Mate Pavić (; born 4 July 1993) is a Croatian professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won three titles in men's doubles: the 2018 Australian Open with Oliver Marach, th ...

and

Laura Siegemund Laura Natalie Siegemund (born 4 March 1988, in Filderstadt) is a German professional tennis player. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 US Open in women's doubles with Vera Zvonareva, as well as the 2016 US Open in mi ...

. In men's doubles, Ram and partner

Raven Klaasen Raven Klaasen ( ; born 16 October 1982) is a South African professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 7 in August 2019, and has won 19 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, includi ...

reached the finals for the

ATP World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results t ...

2017: Retirement in singles, First doubles Masters title at Indian Wells

2019: Australian Open mixed doubles title

Ram, with his partner

won the Australian Open mixed-doubles title.

2020: Australian Open doubles title, top 5 debut

Ram, with his partner

won the Australian Open men's-doubles tournament, defeating

Max Purcell Max Purcell (born 3 April 1998) is an Australian professional tennis player. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships in doubles alongside Matthew Ebden. The pair also finished runners-up at the 2022 Australian Op ...

and

Luke Saville Luke Saville (born 1 February 1994) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has had success as a doubles player where he reached his highest ranking of World No. 23 on 8 November 2021. Saville reached the final at the 2020 Australian Op ...

in the final. As a result, he reached a career-high of world No. 5 in doubles, on February 3, 2020.

2021: Second Australian Open mixed & US Open & Masters doubles titles, World No. 4

Ram and partner

won Australian Open mixed-doubles tournament, defeating

Matthew Ebden Matthew Ebden (born 26 November 1987) is an Australian professional tennis player. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2022 Wimbledon Championships in men's doubles alongside Max Purcell, and the 2013 Australian Open in mixe ...

and

Samantha Stosur Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...

. He also competed in the men's doubles tournament with partner

to defend their title, but lost to

Ivan Dodig Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's doubles titles at the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo, and the 2021 Au ...

and

Filip Polášek Filip Polášek (; born 21 July 1985) is a Slovak professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He was forced to retire in 2013 due to health issues, but returned in 2018 and began the most successful phase of his career. Polášek wo ...

in the final. He reached the final and won his third Masters 1000 in Canada at the

National Bank Open The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...

with Salisbury, defeating world No. 1 and No. 2 Croatians, Pavic and Mektic, his second final for the year at a Masters level after the Italian Open, where they lost to the Croatian pair. As a result, he returned to the top 5, on August 16, 2021. At the 2021 US Open Ram partnering with Salisbury reached the final, defeating

in a nearly three hour-long match, saving four match points in the quarterfinals and

Steve Johnson (tennis) Steve "Stevie" Johnson Jr. (born December 24, 1989) is an American professional tennis player. For one week in August 2016 he was the top-ranked American in men's singles. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 21 achieved on July 2 ...

in the semifinals. The pair won the men’s doubles tournament, defeating

Jamie Murray Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...

and

Bruno Soares Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...

in the final. As a result, he reached a career-high of world No. 4 in doubles, on September 20, 2021.

2022: US Open champion, Two Masters 1000 titles, World No. 1

He became World No. 2 on April 4, 2022 after reaching the quarterfinals at the

2022 Miami Open The 2022 Miami Open was a professional hardcourt tennis tournament played from March 22 to April 3, 2022 on the grounds of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It was the 37th edition of the men's and women's event and was classified as a ...

, losing to eventual champions

Hubert Hurkacz Hubert Hurkacz (; born 11 February 1997) is a Polish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in November 2021, making him the high ...

and

, with his partner Joe Salisbury who became World No. 1. He won the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters with Salisbury defeating 6th seeded pair of Robert Farah and

Juan Sebastian Cabal ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

. He won his second Masters of the season at the

2022 Western & Southern Open The 2022 Western & Southern Open was a men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts from August 15–21, 2022, as part of the US Open Series. It was a Masters 1000 tournament on the 2022 ATP Tour and a WTA 1000 tournament on ...

with Salisbury. At the 2022 US Open, Ram and Salisbury defended their title, defeating

Wesley Koolhof Wesley Koolhof (; born 17 April 1989) is a Dutch professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 in doubles on 7 November 2022. He has won 14 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, mos ...

and

Neal Skupski Neal Skupski (born 1 December 1989) is a British professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 14 November 2022. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in mixed doubles, havi ...

in the finals. This was the third Grand Slam title together for Ram and Salisbury. They became just the second team to repeat as men's doubles champions at this Major in the Open Era other than Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde who went also back-to-back in New York. Ram became the oldest first-time World No. 1 in the doubles rankings on October 3, 2022. He is the 18th American to become No. 1 in the rankings.

World TeamTennis

Ram made his

World TeamTennis World TeamTennis (WTT) is a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...

debut in 2017 with the

San Diego Aviators The San Diego Aviators are a World TeamTennis (WTT) team that plays at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California in the United States. The team is the successor to two WTT franchises. The first was created in 1995, as the New York O ...

. He joined the

Chicago Smash The Chicago Smash is a World TeamTennis (WTT) franchise founded in 2020, owned by the league. The team was the third expansion teams in two years to enter the league in 2020 following the addition of the Orlando Storm and Vegas Rollers during the ...

for its debut season, during the 2020 WTT season set to begin July 12.

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

Mixed doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Year-end championships finals

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Masters 1000 finals

Doubles: 7 (5 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Olympic medal matches

Mixed doubles: 1 (silver medal)

ATP career finals

Singles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Doubles: 46 (26 titles, 20 runner-ups)

Performance timelines

Singles

¹ Held as

Hamburg Masters The Hamburg European Open (formerly ''German Open Tennis Championships'') is an annual tennis tournament for professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. Before 2021, it was a mal ...

(outdoor clay) until 2008, Madrid Masters (outdoor clay) 2009 – present.
² Held as Madrid Masters (indoor hard) until 2008, and Shanghai Masters (outdoor hard) 2009 – present.

Doubles

''Current through the 2022 US Open'' ¹ Held as

(outdoor clay) until 2008, Madrid Masters (outdoor clay) 2009 – present.
² Held as Madrid Masters (indoor hard) until 2008, and Shanghai Masters (outdoor hard) 2009 – present.

Mixed doubles

''Current through the

2022 Australian Open The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...

.''

References

External links

* *
Fighting Illini Men's Tennis Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ram, Rajeev 1984 births Living people American male tennis players Carmel High School (Indiana) alumni Illinois Fighting Illini men's tennis players People from Arapahoe County, Colorado People from Carmel, Indiana Tennis people from Colorado Tennis people from Indiana American sportspeople of Indian descent Indian-American tennis players American Hindus Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in tennis Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in tennis Australian Open (tennis) champions US Open (tennis) champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players