Bolt/Hewitt To Return After Rain Halts Play At SW19

Lleyton Hewitt and Alex Bolt will need to come out firing on Thursday if they are to reach the second round at Wimbledon. The unseeded Australian duo, who reached the Surbiton Trophy semi-finals on the ATP Challenger Tour in June, trailed No. 13 seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 1-4 when rain called an end to play on Wednesday at The All England Club.

The 37-year-old Hewitt, who owns a 5-5 doubles record at tour-level this season, is bidding to secure his 10th victory in 17 doubles encounters at SW19. Hewitt is aiming to reach the doubles quarter-finals for the first time, having reached the Round of 16 on four occasions.

Defending champions Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo led Nature Valley International champions Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara 6-4, 6-3, 3-4 before rain cancelled play. Kubot and Melo, who defeated Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic to lift the 2017 trophy, are bidding to become the first team in nine years to successfully defend the title (2009, Nestor/Zimonjic).

The winners of the first-round clash will face Jonathan Erlich and Marcin Matkowski in the second round. Erlich and Matkowski edged a tight three-set battle against Frenchmen Jonathan Eysseric and Hugo Nys 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 7-6(8).

Roland Garros champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut began their bid for a second Wimbledon title (2016) in style, beating Roberto Carballes Baena and Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. The fourth seeds fired eight aces and won 74 per cent of second-serve points to advance after 84 minutes.

Nature Valley International finalists Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski needed just 86 minutes to defeat Ilija Bozoljac and Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. The British brothers will meet ninth seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer or David Ferrer and Marc Lopez. Qureshi and Rojer lead 7-6(3), 6-4, 2-1.

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Robin Haase and Robert Lindstedt upset 10th-seeded Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram 7-6(4), 7-5, 6-3. The unseeded duo saved all six break points they faced and converted two of three break opportunities to progress after two hours and 12 minutes.

Haase and Lindstedt will face Antonio Sancic and Andrei Vasilevski in the second round. The Croatian-Belarusian tandem defeated Japanese pairing Taro Daniel and Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Libema Open champions Dominic Inglot and Franko Skugor safely booked their spot in the second round, beating Marton Fucsovics and Mischa Zverev 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. The No. 15 seeds won 88 per cent of first-serve points to progress after one hour and 46 minutes.

Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers overcame Andre Begemann and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(7). The No. 11 seeds converted three of seven break point chances throughout the two-hour, 32-minute clash. Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos lead No. 16 seeds Max Mirnyi and Philipp Oswald 6-1, 2-3.