Filipino top player Treat Huey and partner Dominic Inglot of Great Britain recovered from a shaky start to defeat Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, Wednesday and get through Australian Open men’s doubles second round.
Huey, who is on his all-time high ranking of 22nd in the world, and his long-time partner Inglot made crucial adjustments in the second set after dropping the opening frame when the Colombians had an early break in the third game.
The second frame was going on serve until Huey and Inglot, seeded 12th in the tourney, pounced on the opportunity to break in the 10th game and level things up.
Finally getting their rhythm, Huey and Inglot, who have been playing together since their University of Virginia days, broke in the fourth game of the third and again in the 9th to wrap things up after one hour and 37 minutes.
Combining for nine aces and nine winners, Huey and Inglot encountered rough patches after incurring unforced errors in the first set. They made five unforced errors and five double faults in the match played at Court 19.
They will next face the winner between Germans Tobias Kamke and Florian Mayer and Italians Andreas Seppi and Potito Starace in a match still to be played.
The duo have gone past at least the third round in the past three Grand Slams, including a milestone quarterfinal run in the US Open. Last year in Melbourne, they lost in the opening round.