Thompson & Purcell, Heliovaara & Patten reach US Open R3

Wimbledon champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten advanced into the third round of the US Open Friday with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Flavio Cobolli and Dominic Stricker.

The sixth seeds won 91 per cent of first-serve points to overcome their opponents in 66 minutes.

The pair are fifth in the PIF ATP Rankings Doubles Race and are vying for their second successive Grand Slam after their nail-biting 6-7(9), 7-6(8), 7-6(9) victory at Wimbledon over Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson. They have won two ATP Tour titles this year in Marrakech and Lyon.

Heliovaara and Patten will face either Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic or Brazilians Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo in the third round.

Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni also progressed to the next round with a narrow 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 6-4 victory over all-American pairing Robert Cash and JJ Tracy. The Argentinians crucially broke at 5-4 up in the deciding set to seal victory in 2 hours, 19 minutes.

The pair reached the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows last year, falling to eventual winners Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 6-4, 6-3. They will face second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden in the next round. Bopanna/Ebden came through 6-2, 6-4 against Roberto Carballes Baena and Federico Coria.   

Neal Skupski and Michael Venus booked their place in the third round with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Guido Andreozzi and N.Sriram Balaji. Aussies Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson rallied back to defeat Andreas Mies and John-Patrick Smith 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3. There were also victories for German tenth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz and Yuki Bhambri and Albano Olivetti.