Tennis: Michael Venus, Artem Sitak move through to second round of Australian Open

Michael Venus and doubles partner Raven Klaasen have moved into the second round of the Australian Open. Photo / Getty Images.

New Zealand's Michael Venus and Artem Sitak have won their opening round doubles matches at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Venus and his South African partner Raven Klaasen, the 6th seeds, have battled back from a set down to beat American Bradley Klahn and Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 4-6 6-4 6-3 in 2h 2min.

Artem Sitak and his partner Austin Krajicek of the United States have seen off Indian veteran Leander Paes and Miguel Reyes-Varela of Mexico 7-5, 7-6 (4) in 1hr 20min. Sitak said the key today was their serving.

"We served really well and didn't face any break points. We took some chances on the return and got a great break at 6-5 to win the first set." Sitak said.

'We served a really good tie break and got the job done."

The third Kiwi in the doubles draw Marcus Daniell and his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof, will play their first round match tomorrow against Aussies Lleyton Hewitt and JP Smith.

The winners will face Venus and Klaasen in the second round.

Meanwhile New Zealand's top junior Valentina Ivanov has won her first round qualifying match for the Australian Junior Open. The 17-year-old who won the New Zealand Championships last month, has beaten American Dakota Fordham 6-1 6-1.

She faces Russian third seed Polina Kudermetova in the second round of qualifying tomorrow and needs to win two more matches to make the main draw.