Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury
NEW YORK — Three-time defending U.S. Open men’s doubles champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury were eliminated in the third round by the 13th-seeded American duo of Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Monday.
Ram, who is from the U.S., and Salisbury, who is from Britain, had won 20 consecutive matches together at Flushing Meadows. They were seeded third this year.
A year ago, they became the first men to win three U.S. Open doubles titles in a row since Americans Tom Bundy and Maurice McLoughlin from 1912-14.
In the quarterfinals, Lammons and Withrow will face the 11th-seeded pair of Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic.
Koolhof and Mektic were the last team to defeat Ram and Salisbury in New York, doing so in the semifinals in 2020.