Reigning Australian Open men’s doubles champions Harri Heliovaara of Finland and Great Britain’s Henry Patten kicked off their title defence with a straight-sets win, defeating Diego Hidalgo and Patrik Trhac 6–4, 7–6 in the first round.

The number two seeds made an early impact, breaking in the third game of the opening set to go 2–1 up. Both pairs then held serve over the next five games, giving Heliovaara and Patten a 5–3 lead. Although they missed a chance to close out the set on Trhac’s serve in the following game, Patten held serve in the next, allowing the champions to secure the first set 6–4.

Set two followed a similar pattern. The holders targeted Hidalgo’s serve in the third game and created two break points, but were unable to convert. With neither team able to break again over the first 12 games, the set was decided by a tiebreak.

Heliovaara and Patten were clinical in the tiebreak. Two double faults from the unseeded duo on their first four points handed the favourites match point, which Hidalgo squandered with a netted return, giving the holders a 7–2 tiebreak victory and sealing the match.

The two-time Grand Slam champions now advance to the second round, where they will face Alexander Erler of Austria and Robert Galloway of the USA.