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American doubles star Rajeev Ram has taken a cryptic dig at Mardy Fish, the captain of the USA Davis Cup team, for leaving him off the doubles roster. The remarks were made following team USA's Davis Cup quarterfinal defeat to team Italy.
While the US team appeared to be highly balanced, it was surprising to learn that Ram, the World No. 3 doubles player and a US Olympic mixed doubles silver medallist with Venus Williams, was not included in the line-up. Even the 38-year-old wasn't hesitant in expressing his displeasure at being excluded.
Team USA was defeated in the quarterfinals by Team Italy yesterday. While Taylor Fritz won for the Americans, Frances Tiafoe and doubles pair Tommy Paul and Jack Sock failed to win their respective matches.
In light of this, Ram took to Twitter minutes after Sock and Paul lost their deciding doubles match, writing:
"How’s everyone’s Thanksgiving going?"
"Putting a team together isn't as simple as just taking a player that's ranked high" - Mardy Fish on Rajeev Ram's exclusion
In a pre-match press conference, Captain Mardy Fish addressed Rajeev Ram's absence, noting that choosing players was not simply based on their ranking.
"Obviously he [Rajeev Ram] is one of the best players in the world. But matching, putting a team together isn't as simple as just taking a player that's ranked high and put him with another player and just hope that they do well," Fish said.
Fish went on to say that Ram and he are "great" friends and that the doubles star is still in his Davis Cup plans for the future.
"Rajeev and I are great friends. We had multiple conversations as well. Rajeev has been a phenomenal player for us. This is a different roster this specific time. We have Davis Cup next year. I told him that he is still very much in my plans for future ties and beyond," he said.
Meanwhile, Ram reflected on the topic in a post-match press conference during the 2022 ATP Finals, saying he was very disappointed with the decision as he felt like he had earned his spot on the team.
"Very disappointed. I put in a lot of hard work this year to help the team get there," Ram said, adding, "I felt like I had earned the spot, if you will. So I was quite surprised when I wasn't picked, and even more surprised to be honest that they only went with four players instead of five. That was the choice. But, yeah, I was hoping to be on the team for sure."
