Glasspool/Rojer advance, defending AO champs Hijikata/Kubler fall

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Lloyd Glasspool and Jean-Julien Rojer continued their impressive start to the season on Saturday when they moved past Andre Goransson and Albano Olivetti 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2 to reach the third round at the Australian Open.

The 11th seeds triumphed in their first tournament together in Brisbane earlier this month and have been solid in their opening two matches in Melbourne. Glasspool and Rojer won 78 per cent (56/72) of their first-serve points and broke twice to advance after two hours and seven minutes.

They will next play Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson after the Australians defeated Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1.

Defending champions Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler suffered a second-round defeat, falling to Yannick Hanfmann and Dominik Koepfer. The Germans fired 12 aces en route to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 second-round win.

Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic, who teamed together at the start of the season, beat N.Sriram Balaji and Victor Vlad Cornea 6-3, 6-3. The 10th seeds triumphed at the ATP 250 event in Hong Kong earlier this month.

Tomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen overcame Marton Fucsovics and Fabian Marozsan 7-6(2), 6-3, while Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz downed Alexandre Muller and Sebastian Ofner 6-2, 6-2.