“I'm most grateful for the life and career that I've had” – Joe Salisbury reflects on his career following retirement
• 4 minute read
With 19 ATP Tour titles, the world No.1 ranking and six Grand Slam crowns across men's and mixed doubles, Joe Salisbury ended his career as Britain's most successful men's doubles player of the Open Era.
After announcing his retirement following this year's US Open, Salisbury walked away from the sport having achieved virtually everything there is in the doubles game.
Now, almost two months on from his final match, the former world No.1 sat down with us to reflect on his tennis journey - from a young boy who first picked up a racket at three years old to one of the best doubles players of his generation.
“I started playing tennis when I was so young that now, I don't even remember the first few years of it,” Salisbury said in an exclusive interview at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton – just across the road from his first tennis club.
“The earliest thing I remember is playing mini tennis in a big sports hall with the wooden floors. I just remember charging around, swinging my racket and just loving running around and hitting a ball.
“I don’t remember feeling any kind of pressure from my parents or anyone else to be play. To be honest, they probably tried to get me to play less but I remember I loved it.”
After spending many of his early and teenage years building a love for the sport, Salisbury suffered a setback at the age of 15 when he contracted glandular fever, which kept him away from the court for around a year. The effects of the illness, combined with a series of injuries and being a late developer physically, stalled his progress and cast doubt over his future in the game.
However, Salisbury's path later took him to the United States in 2010, where he spent the next four years at the University of Memphis. It was there that he met one of his closest friends, David O'Hare, who would later become his long-time coach alongside Justin Sherring.
The pair made their ATP Tour-level debut together as wild cards at ATP 250 event in Memphis in 2014 where they narrowly lost out to doubles legends Bob and Mike Bryan in the opening round.
From then on, Salisbury competed regularly across the World Tennis and ATP Tours before enjoying a breakthrough season in 2018. A trio of ATP Challenger titles paved the way for a dream run to the Wimbledon semi-finals alongside Frederik Nielsen, which sparked Salisbury's belief and opened the door to the biggest tournaments in the sport.
“The run we had at Wimbledon is still one of my favourite memories because it was just so unexpected. It was the first Grand Slam match I’d won and then to keep getting those wins and get as far as we did - it kind of came completely out of the blue.
"It was literally just no pressure, no expectations. Just go out there and play, enjoy it and enjoy the support, the crowd and being at Wimbledon. I think that's why it was one of my favourite tournaments because there wasn't any of that kind of weight that you put on yourself."
Throughout his career, Salisbury had the opportunity to partner with some of the world’s best singles and doubles players, including compatriots Andy Murray at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and in Davis Cup competition, as well as three-time major doubles champion Neal Skupski.
“I'm proud of the person that I am now and how I went through everything throughout my career. I don't have any regrets.
That said, no partnership proved more successful than the one he built with America's Rajeev Ram.
Having joined forces at the end of 2018, Salisbury and Ram quickly emerged as one of the ATP Tour's most exciting partnerships and the duo claimed their first title together in Dubai the following season.
However, it was in 2020 when they truly announced themselves on the big stage, winning the Australian Open to make Salisbury the second British man in the Open Era to claim a men's doubles Grand Slam title.
Together, the British, American duo went on to capture the world No.1 ranking, 14 Tour-level titles – including two Nitto ATP Finals and four Grand Slam crowns – and rewrote history by becoming the first team since 1912 to lift three consecutive US Open men's doubles trophies between 2021-2023.
It’s a partnership that will go down as one of the most dominant of the last decade. Despite parting ways at the end of 2024, the duo reunited for one final campaign this summer, with Ram also deciding to retire from the sport.
Returning to the tournament where they had the most success, Salisbury and Ram closed out their careers with a semi-final run in New York.
“It’d be interesting to see what would have happened if he hadn't said yes to playing (with Rajeev) and what would have happened to my career. I'm pretty sure it would have been nowhere near as good as it was.
“Getting to play with Rajeev again (in 2026) meant that I kind of wanted to finish my career with him. I knew he was planning to stop sometime this year at either the US Open or at the end of the year. I felt like finishing with him and getting to play with him would be really special.
“He’s been my partner for most of my career and to finish with him was a great way to end it.”
As Salisbury reflected on the past 15 years competing at the elite level, it wasn’t a title, record or ranking milestone that he’s most proud of – but how he navigated the challenging moments and hurdles that come with being a professional athlete.
If you do that you can enjoy yourself, you can be free and you can enjoy all the amazing experiences.
When handed a photograph of himself as a three-year-old, the Putney-local was asked what advice he would give that young boy who first fell in love with tennis and was unaware of the extraordinary career that awaited him.
“I'm most grateful for just living the life that I have and having the career that I've had. To have had all the experience that I have - playing Davis Cup, Olympics, on the biggest courts in the world, winning Grand Slams, sharing that with some amazing people.
“I’m most proud of how I was at the end because I think in some ways, it got more difficult throughout my career. At the start, it was just playing with love for the game and passion and motivation but as it went through my career, I definitely lost a bit of that.
“I'm proud of the person that I am now and how I went through everything throughout my career. I don't have any regrets and I'm happy with everything that I went through and where it's got me now.”
“I would tell him to keep enjoying it – keep being himself,” he added while staring down at the photograph.
“I would say to him to trust himself and you can be the judge of yourself – whether you’re doing the right thing or not. If you do that you can enjoy yourself, you can be free and you can enjoy all the amazing experiences.
“I think if this little kid knew the experiences that he was going to have in the future, then he’d never be able to sleep because he’d be so excited about how incredible it would be..”
