At the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon on Saturday, American and British duo Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury outplayed Nicolas Mahut and Matwe Middelkoop 6-0, 6-3 in the ATP 250 clay-court title match.
The top seeds easily cruised to a 60-minute victory and lifted the title at the first event in France by converting four of their five break points. Ram and Salisbury, who dominated the opening set, kept their composure to win the match at 5-3, 40/40 on a decisive deuce point after Mahut and Middelkoop appeared to have a chance to win the second set.
Ram and Salisbury won four tour-level championships together in 2022, including the Nitto ATP Finals gold in Turin, but up until Lyon, they had only advanced to one semi-final on the Tour. Their triumph in Lyon gave them a major confidence boost before they travelled to Paris to compete as the second seeds at Roland Garros. As a team, they now have 10 tour-level trophies.