Rajeev Ram knows one day he will appreciate his Olympic silver medal in men’s doubles, but right now it still stings.
“We were gutted not to go one step further in the final,” the 2002 Carmel High School graduate said. “We played well enough to win, definitely had opportunities and just left it all out there. We certainly earned our silver.”
Ram and U.S. teammate Austin Krajicek lost to Australia’s Matthew Ebden and John Peers 6-7 (8-6), 7-6 (7-1), 10-8 in the Olympics men’s doubles gold medal tennis match Aug. 3 in Paris. The match marked the second consecutive Olympics where a 10-point tiebreaker was used in place of a third set.
“It’s a little tough when you go for a gold medal to play a 10-point tiebreaker,” Ram said. “In this scenario, I think a full match would have been better.”
Ram, 40, and Krajicek, 34, had previous success together in Davis Cup matches. Right before the Olympics, Ram and Krajicek reached the semifinals of the Hamburg Open on clay.
“We felt pretty good going into the Olympics, then we had some great matches getting to the final,” Ram said.
The highlight was Ram and Krajicek’s 6-2, 6-4 victory over Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz in the Aug. 1 quarterfinals. Nadal owns 22 Grand Slam singles titles, including a record 14 French Open crowns. Alcaraz has four Grand Slam singles crowns.
“You probably couldn’t find a tougher match, including singles players on a tougher court, than those two on a clay court and at Roland Garros,” Ram said. “Obviously, because Rafael has won 14 of them, which is unfathomable in singles, and Carlos just won the French Open this year. It’s as tough as it gets for two singles players teaming up for something they genuinely care about and want.”
Ram said he hopes casual sports fans might appreciate more what doubles players can accomplish.
“I feel we were able to win that match because of the effort we put into our doubles games, the teamwork and camaraderie we pride ourselves on, and all the things that make doubles special,” said Ram, who won a silver medal in mixed doubles with Venus Williams in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. “We executed it well. I hope people can recognize that doubles is different than singles and it takes work, it takes effort and dedication to get through that. Just because you are potentially one or two of the greatest singles players of all time doesn’t mean it will translate to doubles just like that.”
Ram said it was one of the most memorable matches in front of a full stadium in prime time in Paris.
“It was loud and super energetic,” Ram said. “The crowd was, obviously, not in our favor, but you still feel that energy and still feel that vibe. As normal tennis players, we don’t always get to feel that all that much. One of the best things we did was handle this situation. We didn’t try to block it out or try to ignore it. At the moment, it still hurts that we didn’t win the gold, but as time goes on, I will look back and really appreciate that I was part of that (quarterfinal) match.”
After the quarters, Ram and Krajicek beat Czech Republic’s Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek 6-2, 6-2 in the Aug. 2 semifinals.
Now Ram will focus on attempting to win his fourth consecutive U.S. Open doubles title with partner Joe Salisbury. The U.S. Open main draw begins Aug. 26 in New York.
