A big day of gentlemen’s doubles action wrapped up at SW19 with most – but not all – of the seeded pairs surviving the opening round.
No.5 seeds Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini were bundled out of contention following a 7-5, 7-6(2), 6-3 defeat by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Malek Jaziri in the shock men’s doubles result of the day.
The in-form Italians, who won the Australian Open title in January and reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros last month, had no answers for their opponents on a sweltering day.
The win marks Garcia-Lopez’s first entry into the second round of the men’s doubles event after seven previous appearances at SW19.
The winners have never paired up at a major, with Jaziri having contested only two Grand Slam doubles events in his career, but on Wednesday the pair made the best possible start to their Wimbledon campaign.
No.12 seeds Pablo Cuevas and David Marrero also made an early exit from the draw, falling to Treat Huey and Scott Lipsky 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-4.
But it was better news for doubles veterans Daniel Nestor and Leander Paes, whose Grand Slam experience proved too great for Serbian pair Dusan Lajovic and Viktor Troicki. The No.11 seeds made light work of their opening round match with a routine 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 win.
Nestor, competing in his 21st Wimbledon doubles campaign, is not short of experience. With two Wimbledon titles to his name – in 2008 and 2009 – the Canadian is hopeful of adding a third but has his fingers crossed for cooler conditions in the days ahead.
“There’s an opportunity, our draw’s OK but you never know, everyone’s dangerous and talented but hopefully we don’t have to deal with these conditions again,” he said.
Nestor and Paes, both 42 years old, suffered an early break of serve but recovered quickly to find their momentum.
“I thought we played pretty solid today, maybe a little bit shaky at the start when Leander served loose on his serve, but after that I thought we played pretty well,” Nestor said. “After that first break down we came right back and broke back, and then I thought we were creating more opportunities.”
More than two decades after his Wimbledon debut, Nestor continues to soak up the atmosphere at SW19 and relish the opportunity to keep the crowds entertained.
“It’s always a good atmosphere here at Wimbledon and the outside courts are no exception, with people standing and watching and enjoying the action. It was pretty good tennis, everyone played decently so I think they would have enjoyed it,” he said.
No.4 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau required just 12 minutes to advance to the third round after Martin Klizan and Lukas Rosol retired trailing 0-3 in the first set. Klizan received treatment to his lower leg before the pair were forced to retire.
Other seeds to advance on Day Three were No.8 pair Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares, with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 win over Pablo Carreno Busta and Daniel Gimeno-Traver, and No.10 seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, who outlasted Nicolas Almagro and Adrian Menendez-Maceiras 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
They will be joined in the second round by No.14 seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram, who won a five-set tussle with Pablo Andujar and Oliver Marach 7-6(2), 6-4, 2-6, 6-7(5), 8-6 that lasted just under four hours.
