Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2023 | Leigh Rogers

John Peers has maintained his perfect record in Australian Open first-round men’s doubles matches.

The 34-year-old Australian combined with German Andreas Mies to post a hard-fought 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 win against Indian wildcards Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni at Melbourne Park today.

This is the 11th consecutive year that world No.38 Peers has recorded a first-round win at the tournament.

Yet the consistent Peers, a former world No.2 and the AO 2017 men’s doubles champion, was forced to dig deep to keep his unbeaten record intact.

After failing to convert two match points in the second set, Peers and world No.22 Mies looked in trouble when they fell behind 1-3 in the deciding set.

However, the No.14 seeds managed to regain the momentum and reeled off five consecutive games to secure their place in the second round.

Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler also scored a first-round doubles win. The Aussie wildcards defeated world No.20-ranked American John Isner and his Mexican partner, Hans Hach Verdugo, 7-6(6) 6-4.

In women’s doubles action, Aussie wildcards Olivia Gadecki and Priscilla Hon scored an impressive 6-4 6-2 first-round victory against Germany’s Tatjana Maria and Romanian Ana Bogdan.

This matches the career-best Australian Open result for both. The 20-year-old Gadecki made the second round at Melbourne Park in 2021, while 24-year-old Hon reached the second round last year as well.

World No.16 Desirae Krawczyk and world No.18 Demi Schuurs await in the second round. The sixth seeds scored a 6-1 6-4 first-round win today against Aussie duo Petra Hule and Arina Rodionova.

Sam Stosur and French partner Alize Cornet also bowed out to a seeded team, losing to world No.37 Chan Hao-Ching and world No.10 Yang Zhaoxuan.

Stosur, who is retiring after this tournament, received a standing ovation from an appreciative Kia Arena crowd following the 6-3 6-4 loss against the No.11 seeds.

https://twitter.com/TennisAustralia/status/1615891143048167428?s=20&t=zUhDYUP7yP_o9X81IAObuA

“It was a fantastic match today. I thought Alize and I actually played pretty well together,” Stosur said, describing the moment as “bittersweet”.

“I love playing, I love competing … a crowd like this makes it kind of feel strange that you don’t want to do it anymore.”

Stosur now turns her attention to the Australian Open mixed doubles competition, where she will partner fellow Aussie Matt Ebden.

> READ: Stosur, Ebden among 18 Aussies in AO 2023 mixed doubles

Aussies in action – Australian Open

TODAY’S RESULTS
Men’s doubles, first round
[14] John Peers (AUS)/Andreas Mies (GER) d [WC] Yuki Bhambri (IND)/Saketh Myneni (IND) 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-3
[WC] Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/Jason Kubler (AUS) d Hans Hach Verdugo (MEX)/John Isner (USA) 7-6(6) 6-4
[1] Wesley Koolhof (NED)/Neal Skupski (GBR) d John-Patrick Smith (AUS)/Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 6-1 6-2
Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) d [WC] Dane Sweeny (AUS)/Li Tu (AUS) 6-0 6-2

Women’s doubles, first round
[WC] Olivia Gadecki (AUS)/Priscilla Hon (AUS) d Ana Bogdan (ROU)/Tatjana Maria (GER) 6-4 6-2
[6] Desirae Krawczyk (USA)/Demi Schuurs (NED) d [WC] Petra Hule (AUS)/Arina Rodionova (AUS) 6-1 6-4
[11] Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/Zhaoxuan Yang (CHN) d [WC] Sam Stosur (AUS)/Alize Cornet (FRA) 6-3 6-4
[WC] Moyuka Uchijima (JPN)/Wang Xinyu (CHN) d [WC] Talia Gibson (AUS)/Olivia Tjandramulia (AUS) 6-3 6-3
Nadiia Kichenok (UKR)/Kimberley Zimmermann (BEL) d [WC] Alexandra Bozovic (AUS)/Lizette Cabrera (AUS) 6-4 6-3

COMING UP
Men’s doubles, first round
[10] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) v Alexander Erler (AUT)/Lucas Miedler (AUT)
Max Purcell (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS) v Guillermo Duran (ARG)/Philipp Oswald (AUT)
[WC] Alex Bolt (AUS)/Luke Saville (AUS) v Federico Coria (ARG)/Diego Schwartzman (ARG)
[WC] John Millman (AUS)/Aleksandar Vukic (AUS) v Benjamin Bonzi (FRA)/Arthur Rinderknech (FRA)
[WC] Marc Polmans (AUS)/Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v [Alt] Facundo Bagnis (ARG)/Robert Galloway (USA)

Men’s doubles, second round
[14] John Peers (AUS)/Andreas Mies (GER) v TBC
[WC] Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/Jason Kubler (AUS) v TBC

> VIEW: Australian Open 2023 men’s doubles draw

Women’s doubles, first round
[4] Storm Hunter (AUS)/Elise Mertens (BEL) v Veronika Kudermetova/Liudmila Samsonova
[9] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v Ekaterina Alexandrova/Vivian Heisen (GER)
[WC] Jaimee Fourlis (AUS)/Astra Sharma (AUS) v [Alt] Claire Liu (USA)/Sabrina Santamaria (USA)

Women’s doubles, second round
[WC] Olivia Gadecki (AUS)/Priscilla Hon (AUS) v [6] Desirae Krawczyk (USA)/Demi Schuurs (NED)

> VIEW: Full Australian Open 2023 women’s doubles draw

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