Joe Salisbury retires: Britain's greatest men's doubles player bows out
Joe Salisbury has retired from professional tennis at the age of 34.
Britain's most successful men's doubles player of the Open Era walked away after one last run at the US Open in New York. The Lawn Tennis Association confirmed his decision on 16 September 2026, after Salisbury shared the news in a post on Instagram LTA.
He chose the US Open as his final professional event. He reached the semi-finals there alongside long-time American partner Rajeev Ram. Ram has also decided to retire.
The numbers are stark. Salisbury finishes with six Grand Slam doubles titles, 17 tour-level titles in all, and a spell as world No. 1 in doubles, the ranking that marks the best player on tour BBC Sport.
Four of those major titles came with Ram. They won the Australian Open together in 2020, then won the US Open in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to become the first men's pair in history to win three consecutive titles in New York. They also won the ATP Finals, the season-ending event for the year's best eight teams, in 2022 and 2023.
Salisbury's range went beyond that partnership. He won two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, the event where each team pairs one man and one woman, alongside American Desirae Krawczyk.
The farewell follows a difficult period off the court. In November 2025 Salisbury said he was taking a break from tennis because of anxiety issues Reuters. He later said anxiety on tour left him with a feeling of dread, and he took a three-month break at the start of the year BBC Sport. At that point he told the BBC he was not planning to return before April.
He has now said he had been thinking about retiring for a while and was very happy with the decision, according to the ATP Tour, which headlined its tribute "Joe Salisbury announces retirement: 'I gave it my all'".
What makes this stand out is the patience of it. Salisbury learned his doubles craft point by point, rally by rally. The great pairs win the small arguments: the first volley, the return aimed at the weaker server, the break point, a chance to take the server's game, saved at 30-40. He and Ram won those moments again and again in New York. A fitting way to finish.
