Reigning US Open men’s doubles champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury will pursue a title defense in 2022 as the top seeds.
The men’s doubles draw released on Sunday pits the pair against unseeded team Federico Coria of Argentina and Cristian Rodriguez in Round 1, and sets a path to a potential final against No. 2 seeds, Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neal Skupski of Great Britain.
Click here to view the full US Open men's doubles draw.
If they want to win the title for a second straight year, though, they'll have a tough road: In Round 3, Ram and Salisbury could face No. 15-seeded Italians Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, winners of the 2015 Australian Open; there's also the possibility of a a rematch of last year's title match in the quarterfinals, and a projected popcorn-worthy semifinal against Australians Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Seeded fourth at last year’s US Open, Ram and Salisbury defeated the seventh-seeded pairing of Great Britain’s Jamie Murray and Brazil’s Bruno Soares 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the championship match. Murray and Soares are seeded No. 10 this year, and could face Roland Garros finalists Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in Round 3. There are no guarantees that the Croatian-American pair will get there, though: They face a tough Round 1 against Americans Jack Sock and Tommy Paul.
In the bottom half, Koolhof and Skupski open against Americans Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson as the firm favorites to make a deep run. The British-Dutch pairing have won six titles in eight final appearances this year. Roland Garros winners Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer landed in their half, as have No. 6 seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, the winners of Wimbledon last year. Those two teams are on a path to meet in the quarterfinals.
Koolhof and Skupski are also projected to face 2019 US Open finalists Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the quarterfinals, while unseeded Wimbledon winners Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden could be lurking in Round 3.
