US Open: Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram begin title defence with straight-sets win

Britain's Joe Salisbury and American team-mate Rajeev Ram began the defence of their US Open men's doubles title with a straight-sets win.

The top seeds defeated Argentine Federico Coria and Colombian Cristian Rodríguez 6-4 6-4 in New York.

Salisbury became the first Briton to win two doubles titles at a Grand Slam in the Open era at last year's US Open.

But the top-ranked men's doubles player will not be defending his mixed doubles title alongside Desirae Krawczyk.

Lloyd Glasspool and Finish partner Harri Heliovaara also came through their opening match against American William Blumberg and Serb Miomir Kecmanovic in straight sets.

The 11th seeds won 6-3 6-3 and will play South African Raven Klaasen and Brazil's Marcelo Melo next.

There was victory too for Britain's Neal Skupski and his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof as the second seeds defeated American duo Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

They will face another American pair, Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow, in the second round.

Salisbury and Ram, who also won the 2020 Australian Open, warmed up for the tournament with victory in Cincinnati - their third Masters 1000 title together.

The Briton, a four-time Slam doubles champion, was out for a month with a back issue following the pair's run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

But he and Ram started well on their return to Grand Slam action, with a single break of serve in either set enough to seal victory.

They will meet Australian Luke Saville and Russian Aslan Karatsev in round two.