By Rebecca Harris | @MsRebeccaHarris

RIO DE JANEIRO — Carmel High School graduate Rajeev Ram’s improbable Olympic journey will continue.Ram and his men’s doubles tennis partner, Brian Baker, won their first-round match against French pair Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Despite an extended delay created by high winds earlier in the day, the pair breezed through their match 6-1, 6-4.

The next match for Ram and Baker will be Monday against Peya Alexander and Oliver Marach of Austria.

“It didn’t feel like we overplayed or anything like that; we just went out and did what we needed to do,” Ram said.

Ram excelled at Carmel, winning the state singles title in 1999 and being named an All-State player. He later competed at the University of Illinois, helping his team to an undefeated season in 2003 and winning both the NCAA doubles and singles title the same year. He has 11 tournament titles. An Olympic medal is the next prize, though at first, he wasn’t sure he would have the chance.

Ram was a last-minute Olympics entry after  Bob and Mike Bryan, gold-medal winners in 2012 at London, announced July 30 that they would drop out due to health concerns. Despite the late notice, Ram said he hasn’t been overwhelmed.

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