MEMPHIS, Tenn. — For the second time in his career, former Memphis men’s tennis standout Joe Salisbury has won a Grand Slam championship.
Salisbury and his playing partner Desirae Krawczyk defeated Aslan Karatsev and Elena Vesnina (2-6, 6-4, 10-5) to claim the mixed doubles title at the French Open on Thursday.
A native of London, England, Salisbury is the first British player in 39 years to win one of the five main draw events at Roland Garros. He previously won the Australian Open men’s doubles championship in 2020 alongside Rajeev Ram. The pair also finished runner-up at the same event in 2021.
The French Open victory is the first significant mixed doubles title for both Salisbury and Krawczyk. After dropping the first set, the British-American team broke the serve of their Russian opponents to go ahead 5-4 in the second. Salisbury served out the set to even the match before the pair dominated the deciding tiebreaker.
“To our team, everybody here and back home, you guys are amazing,” Salisbury said following the victory. “Thanks so much for your support.”
Salisbury was a three-time all-conference player at Memphis while setting program records with 97 career wins in doubles and 50 combined singles and doubles wins in 2014. He was a key member of the first Memphis team to make the NCAA tournament in 2012 and played a significant role in helping the Tigers win a conference championship and reach the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2013.
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