London, UK, 1 July 2021 | Leigh Rogers

Several Australian players have made impressive starts to their Wimbledon doubles campaigns.

Alex de Minaur and Matt Reid moved into the second round with a 7-6(3) 6-2 victory today against British wildcards Luke Johnson and Anton Matusevich.

It matches a career-best doubles result for both 22-year-old De Minaur and 30-year-old Reid at the All England Club. They now face top-seeded Croatian duo Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic in the second round.

Matt Ebden and John-Patrick Smith won a two-hour and 52-minute battle against No.12 seeds Tim Puetz of Germany and New Zealand’s Michael Venus. The Aussie combination two saved match points in a hard-fought 1-6 7-6(4) 13-11 victory.

It qualifies them for a second-round meeting with Uruguay’s Ariel Behar and Ecuador’s Gonzalo Escobar.

In ladies’ doubles action, Arina Rodionova combined with Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas to score a sensational opening-round win against the No.2 seeds.

Rodionova and Diyas, contesting their second Grand Slam tournament as a team, lost only three games as they eliminated Hungarian Timea Babos and France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-1 6-2 in 71 minutes.

Babos and Mladenovic have shared four Grand Slam doubles titles and are former finalists at Wimbledon. But despite their experience, they had no answers against the crafty all-court play of Rodionova and Diyas.

The result improves 31-year-old Rodionova’s career record in first-round doubles matches at Wimbledon to an impressive six wins from eight appearances.

Aussies in action – Wimbledon

TODAY’S RESULTS
Gentlemen’s doubles, first round
Alex de Minaur (AUS)/Matt Reid (AUS) d [WC] Luke Johnson (GBR)/Anton Matusevich (GBR) 7-6(3) 6-2
Matthew Ebden (AUS)/John-Patrick Smith (AUS) d [12] Tim Puetz (GER)/Michael Venus (NZL) 1-6 7-6(4) 13-11

Ladies’ doubles, first round
Arina Rodionova (AUS)/Zarina Diyas (KAZ) d [2] Timea Babos (HUN)/Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 6-1 6-2

COMING UP
Gentlemen’s doubles, first round
[16] Max Purcell (AUS)/Luke Saville (AUS) v John Peers (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS)
Alexei Popyrin (AUS)/Lloyd Harris (RSA) v Austin Krajicek (USA)/Tennys Sandgren (USA)

Gentlemen’s doubles, second round
Alex de Minaur (AUS)/Matt Reid (AUS) v [1] Mate Pavic (CRO)/Nikola Mektic (CRO)
Matthew Ebden (AUS)/John-Patrick Smith (AUS) v Ariel Behar (URU)/Gonzalo Escobar (ECA)

Ladies’ doubles, first round
Sam Stosur (AUS)/Coco Vandeweghe (USA) v Anna Kalinskaya (RUS)/Yulia Putintseva (KAZ)
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)/Christina McHale (USA) v Kaitlyn Christian (USA)/Nao Hibino (JPN)
Storm Sanders (AUS)/Caroline Dolehide (USA) v Kaja Juvan (SLO)/Ann Li (USA)
Ellen Perez (AUS)/Daria Kasatkina (RUS) v [12] Coco Gauff (USA)/Caty McNally (USA)

Ladies’ doubles, second round
Arina Rodionova (AUS)/Zarina Diyas (KAZ) v Varvara Gracheva (RUS)/Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO)

Mixed doubles, first round
Matthew Ebden (AUS)/Sam Stosur (AUS) v Matwe Middelkoop (NED)/Kiki Bertens (NED)
Max Purcell (AUS)/Marta Kostyuk (UKR) v Marc Lopez (ESP)/Marie Bouzkova (CZE)
John Peers (AUS)/Zhang Shuai (CHN) v Ariel Behar (URU)/Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ)
Joran Vliegen (BEL)/Storm Sanders (AUS) v Roman Jebavy (CZE)/Marketa Vondrousova (CZE)
John-Patrick Smith (AUS)/Caty McNally (USA) v Andrei Vasilevski (BLR)/Arina Rodionova (AUS)
[WC] Nick Kyrgios (AUS)/Venus Williams (USA) v Austin Krajicek (USA)/Sabrina Santamaria (USA)