American Ram Raises Mixed Trophy at 2019 Australian Open Tennis; Titles Review

American adult and junior players brought home one title in six finals, while Serb Novak Djokovic and Japan’s Naomi Osaka displayed their singles dominance as the 2019 Australian Open tennis championships wrapped up on Sunday in Melbourne.  Osaka’s second consecutive Grand Slam win vaulted the 21-year-old to the No. 1 ranking for the first time. The 31-year-old Djokovic by contrast won a record seventh Australian Open singles title after straight-setting Rafael Nadal, a third straight Grand Slam title after Wimbledon and the US Open last year.

American Rajeev Ram was the lone American to raise a trophy in the mixed doubles, teaming with Czech Barbora Krejcikova.

Rajeev Ram (right). Photo: Australian Open

For the 34-year-old Ram it was a first career Grand Slam title, fitting presented by Tournament Director Craig Tiley, Ram’s former college coach at the University of Illinois. It was just the second time Ram and Krejcikova competed together after a loss in the first round at Melbourne in 2017.

“My partner is pretty good — her ranking is No. 1 in the world, so it’s quite an honor to play with her, and for her to carry me to the title,” Ram said, to which Krejcikova replied, “Thanks for texting me at the beginning, so we could play.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtJcVE-AONl/

American David Wagner was runner-up in both the quad wheelchair singles and doubles finals, and 17-year-old Emilio Nava of Woodland Hills, Calif., was runner-up in both the boys’ singles and doubles with Cannon Kingsley of Northport, N.Y.

The American pairing of Chloe Beck/Emma Navarro finished runner-up in the girls’ doubles in Melbourne as the No. 8 seeds.

Final Results (seeds in parenthesis):

Women’s Singles: (4) Naomi Osaka (JPN) d. (8) Petra Kvitova (CZE) 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-4
Men’s Singles: (1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. (2) Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3

Women’s Doubles: Shuai Zhang (CHN)/Sam Stosur (AUS) d. (2) Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/Timea Babos (HUN) 6-3, 6-4
Men’s Doubles: (5) Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut (FRA) d. (12) Henri Kontinen (FIN)/John Peers (AUS) 6-4, 7-6(1)
Mixed Doubles: (3) Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)/Rajeev Ram (USA) d. John-Patrick Smith/Astra Sharma (AUS) 7-6(3), 6-1

Women’s Wheelchair Singles: (1) Diede De Groot (NED) d. (2) Yui Kamiji (JPN) 6-0, 6-2
Men’s Wheelchair Singles: (2) Gustavo Fernandez (ARG) d. Stefan Olsson (SWE) 7-5, 6-3
Quad Wheelchair Singles: (1) Dylan Alcott (AUS) d. (2) David Wagner (USA) 6-4, 7-6(2)

Women’s Wheelchair Doubles: (1) Diede De Groot/Aniek Van Koot (NED) d. (2) Marjolein Buis (NED)/Sabine Ellerbrock (GER) 5-7, 7-6(4), 10-8
Men’s Wheelchair Doubles: (2) Joachim Gerard (BEL)/Stefan Olsson (SWE) d. Stephane Houdet (FRA)/Ben Weekes (AUS) 6-3, 6-2
Quad Wheelchair Doubles: (2) Dylan Alcott/Heath Davidson (AUS) d. (1) Andy Lapthorne (GBR)/David Wagner (USA) 6-3, 6-7(6), 12-10

Girls’ Singles: (1) Clara Tauson (DEN) d. (4) Leylah Annie Fernandez (CAN) 6-4, 6-3
Boys’ Singles: (1) Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) d. (13) Emilio Nava (USA) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(12)

Girls’ Doubles: (3) Natsumi Kawaguchi (JPN)/Adrienn Nagy (HUN) d. (8) Chloe Beck/Emma Navarro (USA) 6-4, 6-4
Boys’ Doubles: (3) Jonas Forejtek/Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) d. (4) Cannon Kingsley/Emilio Nava (USA) 7-6(5), 6-4

For more info go to www.ausopen.com.