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Defending champions Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram are back in the US Open final after beating Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in three sets.<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s Salisbury and American Ram are looking for an unprecedented third consecutive men\u2019s doubles crown at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n
Their 7-5 3-6 6-3 win, in two-and-a-quarter hours, was a 17th successive victory in New York for the pair.<\/p>\n
The first set went with serve until 5-5 when three backhand returns from Salisbury brought up three break points.<\/p>\n
Croatian Dodig continued serving to the Salisbury backhand, and regretted it when he hit a clean winner to put the third seeds in control.<\/p>\n
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Salisbury served out the set to love, clinching it with an overhead down the \u2018T\u2019.<\/p>\n
But the Salisbury serve was broken late in the second set as Dodig and American Krajicek levelled the match.<\/p>\n
A forehand down the line from Ram secured the crucial break at the start of the decider, and Ram finished the job with an unreturnable serve on match point.<\/p>\n
Salisbury said: \u201cWe knew it would be a really tough match and that it might go all the way. They raised their level but we knew we would keep going and compete. Raj played amazing in that third set and we\u2019re happy to be in the final.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty amazing. We didn\u2019t think we\u2019d be here but there\u2019s something about this place which seems to bring the best out of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nI thought we did great and I’m just proud of our performance<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
A tearful Ram, at his home grand slam, said: \u201cIt\u2019s been a tough year for us and to play this level, stick together like we did, and beat the best team this year, I thought we did great and I\u2019m just proud of our performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ram snacked on some sushi in between the second and third sets and it seemed to do the trick.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so hot earlier I couldn\u2019t eat as much as I wanted so I got my boy to go and get me some sushi and it helped, I think,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Salisbury and Ram will face India\u2019s Rohan Bopanna and Australian Matthew Ebden in Friday\u2019s final. <\/p>\n
But, there was disappointment for rising British star Hannah Klugman in the juniors event.<\/p>\n
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The 14-year-old needed a medical time-out after the first set in her quarter-final against Laura Samsonova and eventually retired at 6-0 3-0 down.<\/p>\n
She later withdrew from the doubles, in which she was due to play with Mimi Xu, on another day of 35C-plus temperatures at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n
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