Player Profiles - Martin Bostrom and Filip Rams

March 8, 2023

The #6 nationally ranked team—Martin Bostrom from New Jersey and Filip Rams from Pittsburgh—competed together just three times this season. Read about their partnership and their philosophy of platform tennis.

Filip and Martin

Career
Filip - Corporate and Tax Attorney, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Martin - Director of Racquets at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey

New Partnership
Filip - I always respected Martin's game, his experience and accomplishments, and his knowledge of playing the game at the highest level. I felt that he would be a great partner for me and that together we can compete against any team in the country. We wanted to play a tournament together for over two years now, and we were finally able to connect in October to play the Philly Open. I think we played well. We ended up winning it and decided to give the partnership another shot.

Martin -  We played against each other a few times. The last couple of years I’ve been floating around. This year I had the strategy of whoever asked me to play I would say yes to, if possible. That is why I’ve played with so many people this season—Thomas Nolan, Andre Ivarsson, Ryan Baxter, and Juan Arraya. Filip and I played in the Philly Open and it went really well—we won—and we had a few tournaments in the spring we didn’t have partners for. It felt pretty good and so we just rolled with it.

Team Chemistry
Martin - At the Philly Open—we figured out as we went. Part of the fun is learning as you go. We are both used to playing with steadier players. We are trying to figure out the balance. We are both used to being able to make a couple of mistakes because our partners were so steady. When we lost to Chris Humphreys and Felipe Osses-Konig at Short Hills, the mistakes were accumulating. We are trying to figure out what is our correct pace of play. One of the appealing parts, when we play together, we have so many opportunities. It doesn’t matter if we are on the baseline or at net, we have offense coming from everywhere. Sometimes having too many options isn’t good either but it’s finding that balance.

Filip - We haven't been able to practice together and spend time together on the court, outside of the tournaments that we play together. But as far as the chemistry, I think we complement each other's games well, while still trying to figure out what is the best way for us to play together. It is challenging but also fun to figure that stuff out during the competition.

What Motivates You?
Filip - The desire to win and continue to compete at the highest level against the best players in the game. I do not mean to sound arrogant, but the goal is to always win and beat the best. The same applies to this year's Nationals—we are playing to win it.

Martin - The ever-elusive National Championship. When Flor won her first, I said I wanted to have as many as she does. That ship has sailed but winning one would be great. That is why it is the ultimate motivation. What happens this weekend is the only thing that matters in the year—you want to do well along the way, of course, but ultimately you want to win the National Championship.

Favorite Part of The Sport
Filip -  The camaraderie, friends, and an amazing community of people who love the sport, but also the competition, and for me, still trying to grow my game and be better.

Martin - Being competitive and still learning and evolving, mixed it in with the people who are playing. They are a lot of our closest friends. It’s a great way to socialize and hang out. It’s just as much about what is going on off the court as it is about what is going on on the court. I love that balance—where you can really battle it out but then afterward everyone is friends again. It is pretty unique to our sport.

Final Words
Filip - Winning Philly was a fun moment for us...I’m hoping that this year's Nationals will bring some more good stories.

Martin -  Filip is the only partner I will have played with multiple times this year (besides Flor in the upcoming Husband/Wife Nationals and Mixed Nationals). We’ve had some good looks. It has been pretty seamless so far.