Rajeev Ram ( / r ə ˈ ʒ iː v ˈ r ɑː m / rə- ZHEEV RAHM ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked number one in men's doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Ram has won six major titles, including the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open, the 2022 US Open, and the 2023 US Open in men's doubles with Joe Salisbury. He also won Australian Open mixed doubles titles in 2019 and 2021 with Barbora Krejčíková. Ram has earned two Olympic silver medals: one in mixed doubles with Venus Williams at the 2016 Olympics and one in doubles with Austin Krajicek at the 2024 Olympics.

He finished as runner-up in men's doubles at the 2021 Australian Open and in mixed doubles at the 2016 US Open. Ram became number one in the world for the first time in October 2022 and has won 32 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, including six at Masters 1000 level. He has qualified for the ATP Finals six times, winning the title in 2022 and 2023 and finishing as runner-up in 2016 and 2021.

Before retiring from singles in 2017, Ram reached a career-high ranking of number 56 in April 2016 and won two ATP singles titles at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in 2009 and 2015. He made his Davis Cup debut for the United States in 2021 and competed in the 2016, 2021, and 2024 Olympic Games.

Early life

Ram was born in Denver, Colorado, to Raghav and Sushma Ram, who both moved to the United States from India. His father was born in Bangalore, Karnataka, and his mother was born in Delhi, India. Ram said his knowledge of Hindi is "decent," but he tried to learn Kannada, the language spoken by his father's family, and was not successful.

Ram went to Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana. His father passed away from cancer of the pancreas in 2019.

Junior and college career

During his young career, Ram won nine national junior titles. These included singles and doubles competitions. His titles included the National Claycourt 14-and-under singles championship, the boys' 16-and-under national championship, the 18-and-under Easter Bowl title, and the Target Cup tournaments. In addition to these titles, Ram played high school tennis at Carmel, earned All-State honors, became the state singles champion, and received scholarships in 1998 and 1999.

Rajeev received a wildcard entry into the Juniors' 2001 US Open. Ram participated in all Grand Slam junior tournaments. He finished as the runner-up in junior doubles at the 2002 Wimbledon, partnering with Brian Baker.

Ram postponed starting college at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign until January 2003 to continue playing tennis as an amateur on the professional circuit. During his one semester at Illinois, he won the national doubles title with Brian Wilson and helped the Fighting Illini win all their matches (32–0) and claim the 2003 NCAA team championship.

Professional career

In 2007, he won five doubles Challenger titles with Bobby Reynolds and reached three other finals. This helped him achieve his highest doubles ranking ever at No. 62.

On July 5, 2008, Ram won the Nielsen USTA Pro Tennis Championship in Winnetka, Illinois. This was his first Challenger-level singles title.

In 2009, he won his first ATP doubles title in Chennai, India, with teammate Eric Butorac.

On July 10, 2009, Ram played four professional matches in one day at the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Rhode Island. The tournament was delayed due to rain, so matches were rescheduled. That day, he won his singles matches against Samuel Groth and Jesse Levine, then partnered with Jordan Kerr to win doubles matches against Arnaud Clément/Olivier Rochus and Nicolas Mahut/Fabrice Santoro. Later, he won his first ATP title by defeating Rochus and Sam Querrey on consecutive days. He also won a title as a lucky loser and captured the doubles title.

In July 2010, he won his first doubles title in Atlanta with American Scott Lipsky. They defeated Rohan Bopanna and Kristof Vliegen at the Atlanta Tennis Championships. In the semifinals, Lipsky and Ram beat John Isner and James Blake. Later that year, they won a tournament in Eckental, Germany.

In 2011, Ram and Lipsky started strongly. They won the San Jose Open on indoor hard courts and the Delray Beach tournament on outdoor hard courts. In June, they reached the quarterfinals at the 2011 French Open.

In 2013, Ram partnered with Rohan Bopanna and reached the semifinals in Dubai.

At the 2014 US Open, he reached his first Grand Slam semifinal with Scott Lipsky. They lost to the Bryan brothers, who were top seeds and eventual champions.

At the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, he reached his second career final and won his second ATP singles title by defeating Ivo Karlović.

At the Delray Beach Open, Ram reached his third career final and first singles final outside grass courts, losing to Sam Querrey. At the Olympics, he won silver in mixed doubles with Venus Williams. Less than a month later, he and CoCo Vandeweghe reached the mixed doubles final at the US Open but lost to Mate Pavić and Laura Siegemund.

In men's doubles, Ram and Raven Klaasen reached the finals at the ATP World Tour Finals.

Ram won three doubles titles: in Munich with Ivan Dodig, in Moscow with Austin Krajicek, and in Paris with Marcel Granollers.

Ram and Barbora Krejčíková won the Australian Open mixed doubles title. He also won the Australian Open men's doubles tournament with Joe Salisbury, defeating Max Purcell and Luke Saville in the final. This achievement made him the world No. 5 in doubles on February 3, 2020.

Ram and Barbora Krejčíková won the Australian Open mixed doubles tournament, defeating Matthew Ebden and Samantha Stosur. He also competed in men's doubles with Joe Salisbury to defend their title but lost to Ivan Dodig and Filip Polášek in the final.

In 2021, Ram and Salisbury reached the final of the National Bank Open in Canada, defeating world No. 1 and No. 2 players, Pavic and Mektic. This was his third Masters 1000 title and his second final of the year. He returned to the top 5 rankings on August 16, 2021.

At the 2021 US Open, Ram and Salisbury reached the final, defeating Matthew Ebden/Max Purcell in a long match and Sam Querrey/Steve Johnson in the semifinals. They won the men's doubles tournament, defeating Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in the final. This achievement made him the world No. 4 in doubles on September 20, 2021.

On April 4, 2022, Ram became World No. 2 after reaching the quarterfinals at the 2022 Miami Open with partner Joe Salisbury, who became World No. 1. He won the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters with Salisbury, defeating sixth-seeded pair Robert Farah and Juan Sebastián Cabal.

He won his second Masters title of the season at the 2022 Western & Southern Open with Salisbury. At the 2022 US Open, Ram and Salisbury defended their title, defeating Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in the finals. This was their third Grand Slam title together. They became the second team to repeat as men's doubles champions at the US Open in the Open era. Ram became the oldest first-time World No. 1 in doubles on October 3, 2022. He is the 18th American to reach No. 1 in the rankings. The pair ended the year by winning the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, defeating Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 7–6, 6–4 in the final.

In 2023, Ram and Salisbury reached the semifinals at the Maharashtra Open but lost to 4th seeds Vliegen/Gille. At the Australian Open, they lost in the third round. In the U.S. Sunshine Swing, they fell in the third round at the Indian Wells Masters to Grigor Dimitrov and Hubert Hurkacz. At the Miami Masters, they lost in the fourth round. In the spring clay court season, they reached the quarterfinals at the Rome Masters.

At the 2023 US Open, Ram and Salisbury defended their title, defeating Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden in the finals. This was their third straight US Open title.

In July 2024, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek won a doubles match against Ukraine in the Davis Cup Finals qualifying series, securing a 3–0 lead. This helped the United States qualify for the Davis Cup Finals group round.

Ram won a silver medal with Austin Krajicek at the Paris Olympics. At age 40, he became the oldest tennis player to win an Olympic medal in 116 years.

At the US Open, Ram and Salisbury lost in the third round to Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow, ending a 20-match winning streak. Three weeks later, they announced they had ended their partnership.

Partnering with Christian Harrison, Ram reached the doubles final at the Auckland Classic but withdrew before the match due to an arm injury.

World TeamTennis

Ram made his World TeamTennis debut in 2017 with the San Diego Aviators. He joined the Chicago Smash for the team's debut season during the 2020 WTT season, which began on July 12.

Performance timelines

The Hamburg Masters was called the Hamburg Masters on outdoor clay courts until 2008. The Madrid Masters was called the Madrid Masters on outdoor clay courts from 2009 to the present. The Madrid Masters was also called the Madrid Masters on indoor hard courts until 2008. The Shanghai Masters was called the Shanghai Masters on outdoor hard courts from 2009 to the present.

As of 2025, the event is currently in the second round of the Davis Cup Qualifiers.

The Hamburg Masters was called the Hamburg Masters on outdoor clay courts until 2008. The Madrid Masters was called the Madrid Masters on outdoor clay courts from 2009 to the present. The Madrid Masters was also called the Madrid Masters on indoor hard courts until 2008. The Shanghai Masters was called the Shanghai Masters on outdoor hard courts from 2009 to the present.

As of 2025, the event is currently ongoing during the French Open.