Joe Salisbury reaches Australian Open doubles final at Jamie Murray’s expense
Britain’s Joe Salisbury celebrated a victory over countryman Jamie Murray in advancing to the men’s doubles final at the Australian Open.
Salisbury and his American partner Rajeev Ram defeated Murray and Brazil’s Bruno Soares 6-4 7-6 (2) at Rod Laver Arena.
The fifth-seeded Salisbury and Ram will play ninth-seeds Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Filip Polasek of Slovakia in Sunday’s final, after that pair beat Croatian second seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 4-6 6-4 6-3.
The defending champs are into the final!@RajeevRam/@joesalisbury92 keep their #AO2021 title hopes alive with a 6-4 7-6(2) win over Murray/Soares.#AusOpen | #AO2021 pic.twitter.com/Cw9TNV8F7F
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 19, 2021
Salisbury and Ram needed an hour and 45 minutes to overcome sixth seeds Murray and Soares.
The trans-Atlantic pairing dominated on their first serve, winning 81% of first serve points compared to just 64% for Murray and Soares, and converted two of three break points whereas their opponents broke only once from two opportunities.
