sport news Joe Salisbury is aiming to win Wimbledon, despite being allergic to grass trends now
There is no ambiguity in the ambitions of Britain's top-ranked doubles player — it concerns Wimbledon and ticking one last box. Only there is a minor complication.
'Grass,' says Joe Salisbury. 'I'm allergic to it. I've always had a few allergies — trees, dust, whatever.
'If I lie down on grass, I will get a skin reaction and it gets very itchy. It is not like I am dying but I wouldn't sit on grass for too long. I am trying to win Wimbledon for the first time and I'm allergic to grass, I get why it might sound strange.'
Joe Salisbury (R) is one half of the World No 1 doubles pairing in men's tennis right now
Salisbury has set his sights on winning this year's Wimbledon in front of a home crowd
He never did keep too closely to convention, this hidden gem of British sport, and he never cared too much for obstacles either.
That has just been his way in a stealthy and magnificent takeover of one of tennis's less marquee disciplines.
To run over a few of the details, he is world No 1 in doubles and a fascinating athlete some of you might not know.
If you don't, it is partly because he prefers it that way, but his wishes are becoming ever harder to grant, with four Slams won in three countries in two years.
This from a 30-year-old Putney lad who nearly gave up as a teenager consumed by glandular fever, who once pocketed only $13,000 across two seasons as a young pro and knows what it is like to share little hotel rooms with two other players.
But things change. In 2018, Salisbury was outside the top 100 and lodging at his sister's flat in Peckham. In 2022, he has passed £2million for career earnings and with the American Rajeev Ram is half of the best men's pairing in the game.
Salisbury has revealed that he is allergic to grass - the surface that Wimbledon is played on
'I went to Portugal for a friend's wedding a few weeks back after the French Open and got recognised,' he says. 'The point is that isn't something that really happens to me much outside of tennis and I quite like not having the attention.
'I don't even know why I have a Twitter account (a little more than 3,000 followers, not updated since 2019).
'That stuff never interested me. It sounds boring but I always just wanted to focus on my tennis. With more attention and the positive stuff, the nice comments, it potentially also gets you more negative feedback as well and I just don't want that.
'But Portugal was quite funny. I had gone over on
