Koolhof/Skupski Make Quick Start At Wimbledon

Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski arrived at Wimbledon as the No. 1 team in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings. They showed why on Wednesday. 

The Dutch-British pairing earned a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 victory against Argentines Facundo Bagnis and Diego Schwartzman to reach the second round. Koolhof and Skupski have won five titles since forming a partnership at the beginning of the season, including their maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Mutua Madrid Open. They will next face John-Patrick Smith and Pedro Martinez in London, after the Australian-Spanish team overcame Kazakhstani Andrey Golubev and Ukrainian Denys Molchanov 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-4.

Second seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic continued their red-hot form on the grass by easing to a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 win against Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Mektic and Pavic arrived at the grass-court major having won back-to-back titles at The Queen’s Club and in Eastbourne. The Croatian pair brought that form to their opening match at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. They broke their opponents' serves six times in a 69-minute win and were dominant behind their own delivery, winning 91 per cent (32/35) of points behind first serves. 

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All-American duo Denis Kudla and Jack Sock pulled off an opening-round upset when they eliminated fourth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Marcelo Arevalo 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-4.

Sock is a two-time champion at SW19, having lifted the trophy in 2014 with Vasek Pospisil and in 2018 with Mike Bryan. It was his first tour-level appearance alongside Kudla, but the fledgling duo required little time to gel, notching an impressive win against a team that has won three tour-level titles this year, including their maiden Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros.

Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez enjoyed grass-court success last week at the Mallorca International, where the Brazilian-Spanish pairing clinched a maiden ATP Tour title on the surface. The 16th seeds were made to battle in their Wimbledon opener by home wild card pairing Liam Broady and Jay Clark, but Matos and Vega Hernandez held firm to seal a 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Ninth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares also advanced with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win against Frenchmen Benjamin Bonzi and Arthur Rinderknech. Murray is playing mixed doubles at Wimbledon with Venus Williams and Sock is competing with Coco Gauff.