Doubles Take: Home faves Barty, Dellacqua face test

Here’s your daily Australian Open doubles coverage as the second round kicks off, the first round finishes and the mixed event begins.

“Rusty” is obviously just a nickname, and not the state of Lleyton Hewitt’s game.

The Davis Cup captain and the soon-to-be-retiring Sam Groth won their opener over Denis Istomin and Mikhail Kukushkin quite handily, much to the delight of the home crowd.

They weren’t the only ones who gave the fans a reason to rejoice: Nick Kyrgios and Matt Reid outlasted American Nicholas Monroe and his Australian partner, John-Patrick Smith, in a third-set tiebreak. The majority of the favorites came through with the only upset coming on the men’s side, where No. 8 seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus lost to the veterans Scott Lipsky and David Marrero.

Here are three matches to keep an eye on today.

Elise Mertens/Demi Schuurs vs. (3)Ashleigh Barty/Casey Dellacqua: There’s two ways both teams can look at this match: tough luck or tremendous opportunity. Schuurs entered this tournament with a perfect record so far in 2018: Winning Brisbane with Kiki Bertens (where they beat the Aussies in the semifinals) and taking the title in Hobart with Mertens.

This is a finals-worthy matchup in the first round and the winner should be in good shape for the rest of the tournament after making it through such a tough test early on. The losers might be left cursing the draw gods, but that’s Grand Slam tennis sometimes.

Sam Stosur/Sam Groth vs. Priscilla Hon/Matt Reid: It was quite a day yesterday for Groth and Reid with both enjoying tremendous support from the crowd in their respective doubles matches. This all-Aussie encounter is an intriguing one: Stosur’s had her struggles at the tournament in singles, but this is also the site of her first Grand Slam title as she won the mixed back in 2005 with countryman Scott Draper.

The 19-year-old Hon is making her mixed doubles debut. With this being his last tournament, Groth might get the sentimental support from the fans, which could make the difference in the outcome.

(6) Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan vs. Philipp Oswald/Max Mirnyi: The Bryan brothers—last year's finalists and six-time champions—face one of the most dangerous floaters in any draw. Mirnyi is a former men's doubles finalist in Australia and has had a good run of late with Oswald.

"The Beast" and Oswald won the title in Moscow in 2017 and just reached the final in Auckland. The Bryans, arguably the greatest doubles team of all time, haven't won a Slam since 2014. Mirnyi and Oswald have more than a fighter's chance in making sure that drought continues.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias

Read Joel Drucker and Nina Pantic on TENNIS.com as they report from the Australian Open, and watch them each day on The Daily Mix:

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