Ram, Salisbury claim Australian Open men's doubles title

Joe Salisbury, left, and Brydan Klein pose with their trophies
after winning the doubles title in the 2017 Stockton (Calif.)
Challenger. Photo by Paul Bauman 

   No. 11 seeds Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain defeated wild cards Max Purcell and Luke Saville of Australia 6-4, 6-2 tonight to win the Australian Open men's doubles title in Melbourne.
   It was the first Grand Slam men's doubles title for Ram, 35, and Salisbury, 27, together or separately. Ram also won last year's Australian Open mixed doubles crown with Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
   All of tonight's finalists except Purcell, 21, have won doubles titles in Northern California.
   Ram triumphed with Scott Lipsky, a former Stanford All-American, in the 2011 SAP Open in San Jose on the ATP World Tour and with compatriot Bobby Reynolds in the 2007 Aptos Challenger.
   Salisbury and countryman Brydan Klein prevailed in the 2017 Stockton Challenger.
   Qualifiers Saville, the 2011 Wimbledon boys singles champion, and Hans Hach Verdugo of Mexico went the distance in the 2018 Tiburon Challenger.