Rajeev Ram and his doubles partner Joe Salisbury seemingly shaded United States captain Mardy Fish over his questionable doubles decision. Ram, who is currently the third-ranked player on the doubles list, won the US Open and ATP Finals titles with Salisbury this year.
Still, it wasn’t enough for him to be selected by American captain Fish for the knockout stage of the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. On Thursday, the United States exited the Davis Cup Finals after Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini beat Tommy Paul and Jack Sock 6-4 6-4 in the decisive match of the tie.
“How’s everyone’s Thanksgiving going?” Ram tweeted shortly after the United States exited the Davis Cup Finals.
How’s everyone’s Thanksgiving going? — Rajeev Ram (@RajeevRam) November 24, 2022
On his Instagram Story, Salisbury posted: “If only the USA had someone better for doubles – oh wait @rajeevram318.”
helpppppppppppppppp pic.twitter.com/1Ow86b2Abd — supreme leader of glorious norrienation (@rogerchokerer) November 24, 2022
Fish defended his decision not to select Ram
After exiting the Davis Cup Finals, Fish was asked about his decision not to include Ram in his team.
“We’ve got a lot of great players that play for the US Rajeev is one of them. He wasn’t on the team this year, and that’s my choice. This is the team that I put on the court, and so if anyone has an issue with that, that’s on me.
Rajeev has played and he’s played well. He’s played for us a few times with Jack, and this is a team that I was excited to see. Also, Jack and Frances are a phenomenal team. They have played and beaten some really good teams in some competitions as well, and so we had a lot of options.
This was the team we went with today. But if Rajeev was here or not, those guys were going to win today. They played well and they’re too good,” Fish explained. Meanwhile, Ram and Salisbury enjoyed a great 2022 season. Besides winning the US Open, Ram and Salisbury also made the semifinals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
