Groth leads the charge in doubles qualifying

Best known as the man with the fastest recorded serve, Australian Sam Groth was always going to be a tough assignment for his opponents on grass, especially teaming up with his big-serving countryman Chris Guccione.
 
The second-seeded Aussies qualified for the Wimbledon Gentlemen's Doubles main draw with a 6-3, 7-6(3) win over seventh seeds, American Steve Johnson and Swede Andreas Siljestrom, on Wednesday.
 
Rarely would 6ft 2ins Johnson feel like the small man on court but he was surrounded by giants for this second-round qualifying match - Groth standing 6ft 4ins, Guccione at 6ft 7ins and Siljestrom a towering 6ft 9ins.
 
Predictably, the aces were flowing and it was Groth and Guccione who managed the only break of the match. It proved enough to seal the first set before they edged the second-set tie-break.
 
It was one of only two of the men's doubles matches to see play as fourth-seeded Indian pairing, Purav Raja and Divij Sharan, had a walkover win against Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer and Czech Jiri Vesely, while third seeds, German Dominik Meffert and Austrian Philipp Oswald also had a walkover victory, over Americans Denis Kudla and Tim Smyczek.
 
Canadians Jesse Levine and Vasek Pospisil upset top seeds, German Dustin Brown and Australian Rameez Junaid, 6-4, 6-4.
 
In first round Ladies' Doubles qualifying, top seeds Stephanie Foretz Gacon, of France, and Czech Eva Hrdina beat Brits Anna Fitzpatrick and Emily Webley-Smith 6-1, 6-3 before Argentines Maria Irigoyen and Paula Ormaechea upset second-seeded French duo Severine Beltrame and Laura Thorpe.
 
American Jill Craybas and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina upset third seeds, American Julie Cohen and Russian Nina Bratchikova 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, while Russian Valeria Solovyena and Ukrainian Maryna Zanevska downed fourth seeds Caroline Garcia, of France, and Slovenian Andreja Klepac 6-4, 6-1. 

Follow qualifying live on Wimbledon.com or download the official iPhone and Android apps