Kiwi Michael Venus and Australian doubles partner John Peers have been beaten in the opening round of tennis' ATP Tour Finals in London.
The sixth seeds were edged by Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentinian Horacio Zeballos 7-6 7-5, leaving the trans-Tasman pair to win their remaining two group matches to qualify for the semi-finals.
Venus and Peers face top seeds Mate Pavic and Bruno Spares next, followed by seventh-seeded Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Only the top two from each of the two groups advance to the final four.
Tuesday's result came down to a couple of key points, says Venus.
"We had a six break points today and only converted one, so the pleasing thing for us is we were giving ourselves opportunties, but we didn't convert," he says.
"If we tidy up a few things in our next match and execute a bit better on the big points, we will get the result."
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic has started strongly in the singles with a straight-sets win over Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, beating the Argentine 6-3 6-2.
