Neal Skupski, Joe Salisbury and Jamie Murray were among the Brits who advanced to the second round as doubles action got underway at the Australian Open.
Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof, the world number one duo, edged Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan and Australia’s John-Patrick Smith 6-1 6-2.
Second seeds Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram won 6-2 6-3 over Frenchman Constant Lestienne and American Marcos Giron in another straight-sets win for Murray and Michael Venus.
Seeded 11, Murray and his New Zealand partner beat Colombian Cristian Rodriguez and American Hunter Reese 6-4 6-2.
All-British duo Henry Patten and Julian Cash, who won a record 10 ATP Challenger titles together in 2022, won 6-4 6-3 on their Melbourne debut against Argentinians Pedro Cachin and Guido Pella.
But Britain’s success didn’t continue in women’s doubles, as Heather Watson and her American partner Danielle Collins were knocked out in the first round by a 6-4 6-2 loss to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk and Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Cunning.
The doubles were due to start on Wednesday, but rain delays forced the matches to be pushed back a day.
Former world number one and two-time Grand Slam men’s doubles champion Murray previously said it was ‘unfair’ to the players that Wednesday’s schedule was released so late, saying it was released at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, players should arrive at 8 a.m.-8:30 a.m. for a departure at 11 a.m.
“Just start games later and give players more rest/prep time,” he tweeted. “You have lights!”
