Murray/Soares Survive Test To Reach Third Round

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares needed to come from a set down on Saturday to book their place in the third round at the Australian Open.

The 2016 champions won 75 per cent of first-serve points (47/63) to edge Luke Bambridge and Jonny O'Mara 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. Murray and Soares improve to 6-1 this season, after picking up their second Sydney International trophy last week (d. Cabal/Farah).

Bambridge and O'Mara were bidding to reach the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time. In the opening week of the season, the British duo reached its third tour-level final, falling in straight sets to Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan at the Tata Open Maharashtra.

Murray and Soares will meet Kevin Krawietz and Nikola Mektic for a place in the quarter-finals. On Friday, Krawietz and Mektic beat 13th seeds Ivan Dodig and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 7-6(5).

Marcelo Demoliner and Frederik Nielsen needed just 57 minutes to defeat 10th seeds Dominic Inglot and Franko Skugor 6-3, 6-2. The Brazilian-Danish pairing did not face a break point en route to victory. Demoliner and Nielsen will face Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus in the third round. The sixth seeds beat Brisbane champions Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof 7-6(4), 6-3.

Seventh seeds Lukasz Kubot and Horacio Zeballos beat French pairing Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. The Polish-Argentine team will face Blake Ellis and Alexei Popyrin or Marcelo Arevalo and Jamie Cerretani for a quarter-final spot.

After beating Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the first round, Jack Sock and Jackson Withrow saved three match points to beat Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-6(8). Sock and Withrow will meet countrymen Ryan Harrison and Sam Querrey in the third round.