The American dream to secure a medal at the Paris Olympics appeared to be shattering one after the other. With Coco Gauff and Danille Collins‘ consecutive exits from the singles run, the team was already starting to be concerned about a future with lesser hopes. During the moment of darkness, the dominant duo of Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek emerged victorious, forcing not just the fans but the tennis pros to drop comments of appreciation.

The American men’s doubles team of Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek recently secured a spot in the finals at the Paris Olympics. They achieved an opportunity to play for gold by defeating the Czech pair of Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory in just 61 minutes.

Their victory didn’t just give a new ray of hope to the countless fans but also made the American tennis warriors come up with morale-boosting comments. WTA pro Shelby Rogers congratulated the duo on their win. She shared a post that boasted the update of their recent achievement in an Instagram story along with adding a supportive caption that said, “Go for it!”. The comment was also accompanied by emojis of the American flag and a gold medal.

Ram and Krajicek have proved to be impressive, mainly because of their commendable victory over Spain’s dynamic duo of Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal. The Americans won that match 6-2, 6-4 and therefore proved to be highly consistent with their high-percentage shots while the Spanish stars were seen making uncharacteristic errors.

Rajeev Ram, who previously won a silver medal in mixed doubles at the Rio 2016 Olympics, came up with sheer optimism about the opportunity ahead. “Winning the gold is a big goal for us. It’s not a regular tournament. It happens once every four years. So I think the experience of doing it once will help,” he said.

Ram and Krajicek discussed the Paris Olympics for a year and now have a chance to achieve their goal. “You play for that gold medal, and when it’s so close, you don’t have it. Also, you never know if you get a chance again. I’m pretty happy that I have that opportunity, and we’re absolutely going to give it our all,” Ram added.

With their current form and experience, the American duo is set to give their best shot at winning the gold medal in Paris. However, besides the opportunity to win the yellow metal, the upcoming showdown brings a chance for Rajeev Ram to end the eight-year-long trail of criticism.

Rajeev Ram’s opportunity to get rid of the biggest regret in his career

Besides the massive achievement of Ram and Krajicek, the fans had a moment to revisit the disappointing loss at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Ram teamed up with Venus Williams in mixed doubles, making it to the finals. Venus was just one step behind extending her name to the history books by winning the most gold medals among U.S. women’s tennis players. However, they lost the final to compatriots Jack Sock and Bethanie Mattek-Sands, taking home the silver.

Fans started to blame the ATP star, as they believed Venus was destined for another gold. This loss led to immense criticism of Ram, which didn’t come to an end even after eight long years of healing. The Denver native worked hard to change the negative perception that the media and fans have of him. Now that he sits on a chance to win the gold medal in Paris alongside Austin Krajicek, the 40-year-old is on the edge of ending an eight-year-long regret. A gold medal would not only add more glory to his portfolio but will also redeem his respect.