Heliovaara & Patten made an early breakthrough, winning the third game of the opening set with the first break point of the match to go 2-1 up, before both pairings held serve over the next five games to give the Finn and Brit a 5-3 lead.

The number two seeds - who warmed up for the Grand Slam by taking the Adelaide International title last week - then missed the chance to win the first set off Trhac's serve in the next game, but with Patten serving next , the champions made no mistake in wrapping up the first set, 6-4.

Just as they had in the first set, Heliovaara & Patten looked to attack Hidalgo's serve in the third game of set two, but despite two break points, they couldn't seal the game. Those would be the only break points of the first 12 games, and a tiebreak was required.

The two-time Grand Slam winners were faultless in the tiebreak, while two losses on their first four serves from the unseeded duo meant Heliovaara & Patten had match point on Trhac's next serve. Hidalgo hit Patten's return into the net, giving the holders a 7-2 tiebreak win.

That confirmed a 6-4, 7-6 straight-sets win for the favourites, who now progress to the Second Round, where they will face Alexander Erler of Austria and Robert Galloway of the USA.

[lslink-league cms-href="https://www.flashscore.com/match/tennis/E1LHjJfd/#/" sport-id="2" tournament-template-id="fw3bJzl5" tournament-id="CU5uO9r3" tournament-stage-id="EDYDZWan" season-id="185" target="summary"]Follow the 2026 Australian Open on Flashscore.[/lslink-league]