Bryans Begin Bid For Seventh Melbourne Crown

Third seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan made a speedy start at the Australian Open on Wednesday as the men’s doubles draw action kicked off. The six-time champions did not face a break point to beat the all-French duo of Paul-Henri Mathieu and Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-0 in 43 minutes.

Fourth seeds and reigning ATP Finals champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers fired seven aces to defeat Santiago Gonzalez and David Marrero 7-6(1), 6-4. They next face Marcos Baghdatis and Gilles Muller, 6-1, 6-4 winners over Cheng-Peng Hsieh and Tsung-Hua Yang.

Fifth seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov and Gerald Melzer, while No. 9 seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers, a new team for 2017, won 6-3, 6-4 over Malek Jaziri and Stephane Robert. Dodig/Granollers next play Robert Lindstedt and Michael Venus, 7-6(6), 7-6(2) winners over Andre Begemann and Jan-Lennard Struff.

Other seeds to advance to the second round: No. 11 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau defeated Philipp Petzschner and Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(5), 7-6(3), fifteenth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas beat Thomaz Bellucci and Maximo Gonzalez 6-4, 7-6(4) and Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergea, the No. 16 seeds, advanced 6-2, 7-5 over home hopes Luke Saville and Jordan Thompson.

Aussies Matthew Barton and Matthew Ebden scored an upset in front of their home crowd, a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 12 seeds Vasek Pospisil and Radek Stepanek.