Top seeding counted for little as trans-Tasman pair Michael Venus and John Peers were knocked out of the ASB Classic in their first match as a permanent doubles pair.
The Kiwi and the Australian were beaten 6-7 6-7 by Venus’ fellow New Zealander Artem Sitak and his Indian partner Divij Sharan.
Venus and Peers, who are ranked 11th and 23rd in doubles respectively, both live in London and practise together regularly but were upset in their first competitive hitout together.
They started promisingly, jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the first before Sitak and Sharan scrapped back to send it to a tiebreak they would win, 7-4.
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