British top seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool suffered a shock second-round defeat by Australian wildcards James McCabe and Li Tu at the Australian Open.
Wimbledon champions Cash and Glasspool, who last season became the first all-British pair to secure the year-end world number one men’s doubles ranking, lost 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
It leaves fellow Briton Henry Patten and Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara – the defending champions – as the highest remaining seeds in a men’s doubles draw that has already lost five of the top 10 pairings.
German fifth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Putz, semi-finalists last year, also exited on Friday.
They joined Italian seventh seeds and 2025 runners-up Andrea Vavassori and Simone Bolelli, eighth seeds Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Hugo Nys, and ninth seeds Francisco Cabral and Lucas Miedler in having their bids ended early.
But Briton Neal Skupski and American Christian Harrison, the sixth seeds, safely progressed to the third round with a 6-3 6-2 win over Spain’s Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar.
Britain’s Marcus Willis, competing alongside Swiss player Jakub Paul, and Luke Johnson, partnering Poland’s Jan Zielinski, will both seek to progress later on Friday.
