Britain’s top seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash have suffered a shock first-round exit at the US Open.
The pair, who this summer became the first all-British partnership to win the Wimbledon men’s doubles title for 89 years, were beaten 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) by American Robert Galloway and Austrian Alexander Erler.
Cash and Glasspool have won titles at four of the last six events they have entered since the French Open, including in Toronto earlier this month.
But the pair looked fatigued as they succumbed to defeat in two tight sets.
Elsewhere, British sixth seeds Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury cruised past American pair George Goldhoff and Reese Stalder in a 6-3 6-4 win.
In the women’s doubles, Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal progressed to the second round with a 6-1 5-7 7-6 (10-5) win over China’s Tang Qianhui and American Sabrina Santamaria.
The Britons, whose respective singles campaigns ended in the first round, had match point at 5-3 in the deciding set, but a nervy service game from Boulter shifted the momentum and instead the pair needed a tie-break to win a thrilling contest.
