Peter Staples/ATP Tour
Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski began the quest to win their first title of the season Thursday when they defeated Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-1 at the BNP Paribas Open.
The top seeds won seven tour-level titles, including three ATP Masters 1000 crowns in 2022, but have yet to lift a trophy this season. They’ll be hoping their 62-minute win against Melo and Zverev is the start of a triumphant run in Indian Wells.
In a dominant performance, the Dutch-British tandem won 87 per cent (20/23) of their first-serve points to set a second-round meeting against Frances Tiafoe and Stan Wawrinka or Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta.
It was a different story for second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who were upset in the opening round by singles stars Grigor Dimitrov and Hubert Hurkacz. In a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory, Dimitrov/Hurkacz erased both break points they faced and claimed the second set behind the lone break of the match.
Teaming for the first time, Cameron Norrie and Lucas Miedler made a winning start when they downed Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski 3-6, 6-3, 10-6. The British-Austrian team will next meet Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, who beat #NextGenATP stars Holger Rune and Ben Shelton 6-1, 6-3.
Daniel Evans and John Peers scored a 6-3, 6-3 win against Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, while Kevin Krawietz and Fabrice Martin beat Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4.
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