As far as first-up Australian Open assignments go, an unseeded opponent with two trophies from as many tournaments to start the year is as tough a hurdle as Ash Barty and Casey Dellacqua could have drawn.
So after the Aussie No.3 seeds held off the red-hot Demi Schuurs and her Belgian playing partner Elise Mertens 6-3 7-5 on Friday, it’s no wonder those grins were beaming and the high fives flowing.
MORE: All the latest scores and results
Dutchwoman Schuurs had already beaten the Aussie pair on her way to claiming the season-opening Brisbane International title with Kiki Bertens.
A week later, she extended her unbeaten 2018 run to eight matches when she and Mertens claimed the trophy in Hobart.
MORE: Full women’s doubles draw
“I think they must have been first or second or very close to a seed,” Barty said. “When the draw came out we knew it was going to be tough, but I think for us it’s nice to have that and having to be ready from the get-go, right from the first round.”
In addition to her Tasmanian doubles triumph, Mertens brought singles form to the floor having claimed 11 of her past 12 matches, including the successful defence of her Hobart crown.
She had already done the hard yards in the hottest part of the day when she saw off Alize Cornet to reach the women’s singles fourth round.
But on Friday afternoon, it was she and Schuurs who took longer to settle, broken for 2-0 before Barty would go on to serve out the opening set with a love hold off the Belgian’s backhand volley error.
Mertens/Schuurs surged to a 4-1 advantage in the second set, but spurred on by the Court 8 crowd, the Aussies lifted, with a dipping forehand pass from Barty breaking the Dutchwoman’s serve for 6-5.
Dellacqua served it out with a swinging ace down the T to set a second-round date with Americans Jennifer Brady and Vania King.
“It’s another tough match,” Dellacqua said. “It’s why it was good to get out there and have a tough one today so we’ll just do what we do well, Ash and I.
“Most of the time that’s good enough.”
The news was not so good for the other Aussies in men’s and women’s doubles action on Friday with defending men’s champions John Peers and Henri Kontinen stunned in a second-round boilover, and wildcards Jessica Moore and Ellen Perez falling narrowly short in their women’s doubles second-round clash.
Second seeds Peers and Finnish playing partner Kontinen fell to the unheralded duo of Radu Albot and Hyeon Chung, 6-4 7-6(5).
The Moldovan-Korean pair had teamed up just once before, losing first round at Roland Garros.
They scored an impressive win over vastly experienced doubles specialists Jonathan Erlich and Daniel Nestor in the opening round, but were not expected to pose too great a hurdle for their in-form opponents on Friday.
Kontinen and Peers had defended their Brisbane International title leading in, and finished 2017 with the successful defence of their ATP Finals crown.
With the first set in the bag, the first serious sniff of an upset brewing came when Kontinen pushed a forehand volley wide for 3-5 in the tiebreak.
Back-to-back winners saved two match points at 3-6, but when Peers double-faulted, their fate was sealed.
Earlier, Moore and Perez were unable to build on a solid start against Romanian 10th seeds Monica Niculescu and Irina-Camelia Begu in their second-round encounter. With Niculescu serving for the match, Begu closed out the 3-6 6-3 7-5 result when she got lucky on a backhand volley netcord winner.
