British doubles expert Joe Salisbury will ascend to the World No 1 ranking this week despite his quarterfinal exit at the Miami Open.
Here we look at how Salisbury came to be on the cusp of holding that honour.
Joe Salisbury has picked up where he left off in 2021 with a bright start to 2022 that sees him on the cusp of becoming the No 1 ranked men’s doubles player in the world after a run to the Miami Open last eight.
Salisbury’s early career was spent in large part partnering David O’Hare on the Futures Tour with the pairing claiming seven titles on the circuit together.
Then British number one tennis player, Tim Henman instructs a young Joe Salisbury, 11, joint British number one in his age group at the time, during the launch of the Esporta Racquets Academy in Chiswick, west London.
He cycled through partners on the feeder tours, once notably partnering doubles legend Leander Paes for a run to the final at the Dallas Challenger event in 2018.
Frederik Nielsen and Joe Salisbury in action during the doubles on day five of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon. Nielsen was one of a number of partners that Salisbury took on in 2018.
Salisbury has achieved most of his big tour successes alongside regular partner Rajeev Ram.
Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram partner in the Mens doubles on day eight of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon. The pair have won five ATP Tour events together.
Ram was on an opposing team the first time Salisbury appeared in an ATP Tour final with the Brit and partner Ben McLachlan claiming the Shenzen title.
Great Britain’s Joe Salisbury and USA’s Rajeev Ram have been regular winners on the ATP Tour with the young Brit and veteran American making up one of the great odd couples on the circuit.
There have been eight further titles on the tour for Salisbury.
Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury achieved their first ATP Masters 1000 tournament win at the 2021 Canadian Open in a year that also saw them bag their second Grand Slam title together at the US Open.
Salisbury has also won two Grand Slams partnering with Ram.
Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram won the 2020 Australian Open Men’s Doubles before a season disrupted by the pandemic and added a second Major at Flushing Meadow last year (2021).
In 2021, Salisbury also appeared in three Grand Slam mixed doubles finals winning Roland Garros and the US Open alongside Desirae Krawczyk.
Joe Salisbury enjoyed Grand Slam competition in 2021 both in the men’s doubles and in the mixed doubles with two titles won alongside Desirae Krawczyk with the American also victorious at Wimbledon without her British partner in crime.
Salisbury also teamed up with Harriet Dart for a run to the Wimbledon final last year.
Joe Salisbury and Harriet Dart enjoyed a great run as they teamed up for the Championships Wimbledon in 2021 going all the way to the final only to lose to familiar faces in Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Salisbury partnered with Andy Murray for a run to the quarterfinals, including a big upset win over French Second seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the opening round.
Joe Salisbury and Andy Murray narrowly missed out on the medal action at the Tokyo Olympics as they enjoyed a great run to the quarterfinals before they were beaten by Croatian duo Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig.
Salisbury has won five titles alongside Ram, one with McLachlan and two with compatriot Neal Skupski.
Joe Salisbury has won two ATP Tour titles alongside Neal Skupski with their triumphs coming just about three years apart in both cases he was only momentarily separated from Rajeev Ram.
Salisbury has also been a Davis Cup regular for Great Britain, usually teaming up with Skupski, but he has also paired with Jamie Murray when representing Great Britain in the ATP Cup.
Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury take on Australia in the ATP Cup. Salisbury has partnered with a number of his countrymen but has had the greatest success alongside an American in Rajeev Ram.
