Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are reunited at last on the Grand Slam stage.
The German pairing was last seen at a major winning their second consecutive Roland Garros crown in 2020. Knee surgery meant Mies missed the first seven months of the 2021 season and it took until their semi-final run at the Sydney Tennis Classic last week (l. to Bolelli/Fognini) for them to appear on court together again.
The 12th seeds looked as if they had never been away from the big stage as men’s doubles got underway at Melbourne Park on Wednesday, defeating Mexican-Argentinian duo Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 7-6(7), 6-3 to reach the second round of the Australian Open for the first time.
A tight encounter saw both teams win more than 80 per cent of points behind their first serve, but the Germans were able to win the only break point of the match in the second set to secure victory.
The 2016 Australian Open champions, eighth seeds Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray, got their bid for another title off to a flyer, defeating Australian duo James Duckworth and Marc Polmans. The eighth-seeded British-Brazilian pairing, who also reached the semi-finals in Melbourne in 2021, won four of eleven break points to overwhelm the home favourites 6-3, 6-2.
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There were also strong opening displays from some of the other higher-seeded teams in the draw. 2021 Nitto ATP Finals runners-up Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury beat Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili and Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-3. The British-American second seeds are seeking a third consecutive Australian Open final appearance, having won the title in Melbourne in 2020 and falling at the final hurdle last year (l. to Dodig/Polasek). They outhit their opponents by 30 winners to 10 to advance.
Third seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos also enjoyed a relatively comfortable opening round, breaking twice in both sets to beat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka and Czech Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-2. Spaniard Granollers and Argentine Zeballos have won four ATP Masters 1000 titles since coming together in 2019, but a Grand Slam crown still eludes them after being beaten in the final at both the 2019 US Open (l. to Cabal/Farah) and Wimbledon in 2021 (l. to Mektic/Pavic).
Elsewhere, wild card pairing Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis beat compatriots Alex Bolt and James McCabe 6-4, 6-2 to set a potential second-round clash with Croatian top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic. World No. 1 Mektic and World No. 2 Pavic face Facundo Bagnis and Federico Delbonis in the first-round on Thursday.