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Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek were on the brink of well-deserved Olympic glory, but everything went wrong in the span of a half-set and two tiebreakers. That left the American team in a familiar position thus far in Paris: silver, just ahead of gold.
At one point in their gold medal match against Australians Matthew Ebden and John Peers, the two Americans led by a set and a break, having not lost a set all tournament. Leading 4-2 in the second set, they coughed up a break and came up short by two points in another return game to allow the match to go to a tiebreaker.
This tiebreaker went rather poorly, as the Americans lost 7-1 to force a super tiebreaker in the third set. The Australians maintained their momentum, taking a 7-2 lead on what might have been the wildest point of the match. Ram appeared to nail them with a sideways overhead smash, but Ebden ran in front of the referee’s chair to save the point.
Ram and Krajicek made the match interesting with three straight points won near the end, but they were unable to tie the game. The Australians came away with an eventful victory 6-7 (6), 7-6 (1), 10-8.
This is Australia’s second gold medal in tennis, joining Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in 1996 in the men’s doubles. It will also place Australia second in gold medal count with 12, behind only China with 13. The United States’ total remains at nine, more than a week into the Games.
The loss will also leave the U.S. team without a tennis gold medal for a second straight Olympics, after three straight Games with at least one champion. Ram won his second Olympic silver medal, after finishing second in the mixed doubles in 2016, and Krajicek won his first medal.
A match later, the other American pair – Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz – defeated Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek in the bronze medal match to improve the American result.
At ages 40 and 34 respectively, Ram and Krajicek experienced doubles in a draw featuring stars such as Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Andy Murray. The Spanish pairing of Nadal-Alcaraz caught all eyes early in the tournament, with the 14-time Roland Garros champion playing what was likely his final matches at Roland Garros. Krajicek and Ram put an end to this story in the quarterfinals.
Doubles can often feel like a different sport, with its emphasis on serving, volleys and teamwork, and Ram and Krajicek nailed all three throughout the tournament, not dropping a set before this second tiebreaker Saturday.
Ram entered the Olympics with six Grand Slam doubles titles to his name, four in the men’s with partner Joe Salisbury and two in the mixed with Barbora Krejčíková. Krajicek only has one Grand Slam title at Roland Garros 2023, but it was important given the context.
