After a week and a half of play from the 2022 US Open, nine former collegiate alum are still competing across the Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed Doubles draws as play has reached the Semifinal round in all three draws. 

Beginning with the Men’s Doubles Draw, a former collegiate athlete is guaranteed to lift the title for the fifth time in the past six years as Marcelo Arevalo (Tulsa), Jean Julien Rojer (UCLA), Rajeev Ram (Illinois), Joe Salisbury (Memphis), Robert Farah (USC), and Neal Skupski (LSU) are all into the Semifinals. 

For the duo of Arevalo and Rojer, the 2022 season has been one to remember as the pair have already taken home the Men’s Doubles Title at the French Open, which was the first major title for the team and their third overall title together. 

Arevalo, who played at Tulsa from 2009-11, has seen his game rise to new heights after pairing with Rojer this season, reaching a career-high ATP Doubles Ranking of No. 6 on August 22nd while becoming the first Central American Grand Slam winner after winning the French Open Doubles Title. 

Rojer, on the other hand, has shown no signs of slowing down after he became the oldest known Grand Slam Champion after the French Open win this season. Competing at UCLA from 1999-02, Rojer was a decorated player in both singles and doubles for the Bruins, earning ITA All-American honors twice in doubles and once in singles. 

After winning the 2021 Men’s Doubles Title at the US Open, the pairing of Ram and Salisbury are back again in 2022, as the duo will look to take home their third Grand Slam Title as a team as their second straight in Flushing Medows. 

Ram, Illinois 2002-03, has transitioned his game from the college level to the professional level with grace, winning the NCAA National Championship and NCAA Doubles Championship in 2003 before going on to win four Grand Slam Titles and a Silver Medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. 

For Salisbury, Memphis 2010-14, the evolution of his game took an upward turn in 2018 as he claimed his first ATP Doubles Title which would mark the first of ten ATP Titles, including four Grand Slam Titles as he currently sits as the No. 1 Men’s Doubles Player in the ATP Rankings. 

The champions of the 2019 US Open, Farah and Juan Sebastián Cabal, are back again in 2022 looking to clinch their spot in another Grand Slam Final. As the No. 13 seeded pair in the draw, Cabal and Farah have had to take down two higher seeds to reach the Semifinals, including the No. 4 seeded team in Tim Puetz (Auburn) and Michael Venus (LSU/Texas). 

Farah, who played at USC from 2006-10, was a two-time NCAA Team National Champion and the 2008 NCAA Doubles National Champion while with the Trojans. Since turning pro and partnering with fellow countryman Cabal, the duo has gone on to win 19 ATP Doubles Titles, including two Grand Slam Men’s Doubles Titles. 

Coming in as the No. 2 seed in the 2022 US Open Men’s Doubles Draw, Neal Skupski and partner Wesley Koolhof will be looking for their seventh ATP Men’s Doubles Title this season, as the duo has found great success after pairing up before the season. 

Skupski spent four years at LSU from 2008-12, earning many accolades for his play, including being named a three-time ITA All-American. Since turning pro, Skupski has won two Grand Slam Titles in Mixed Doubles while winning 12 ATP Tour Titles overall. 

In the Women’s Doubles Draw, it is Ellen Perez (Georgia) who will look to continue her career-best run at a Grand Slam, reaching the Semifinals of the Women’s Doubles Draw for the first time in her career at the 2022 US Open. 

As a former Georgia Bulldog, Perez has seen a steady incline in her results since she turned pro in 2012. Taking home six WTA Doubles Titles to this point in her career, Perez and partner Nicole Melichar-Martinez have now reached the Quarterfinals in each of the last two Grand Slam Women’s Doubles competitions. 

Finally, in Mixed Doubles, both William Blumberg (North Carolina) and John Peers (MTSU/Baylor) have reached the Semifinals after convincing wins in each of their Quarterfinal matches. 

Blumberg, who was a standout at North Carolina from 2017-21, went from being the first ten-time ITA All-American in ITA history to one of the best men’s doubles players on tour, winning three ATP Tour Doubles Titles and reaching a career-best ATP Doubles Ranking of 76 last month. 

For the Middle Tennessee and Baylor representative, Peers, the dominant play in doubles throughout his career has been nothing short of amazing as the Australian has won 26 ATP Tour Titles, one Grand Slam Title, and a Bronze Medal at the 2021 Olympic Games. 

Semifinal action will get underway on Thursday, September 7th with the Men’s Doubles competition kicking off first. Be sure to cheer on all of the remaining collegiate alum at the 2022 US Open as they look to bring home even more hardware in the final Grand Slam event of the year. 

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College Tennis Alumni Network

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