Tennis: Kiwis receive good draws at Australian Open

Michael Venus in action at the ASB Men's Classic. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwis Michael Venus, Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak have avoided big name pairings in the first round of the Australian Open men's doubles.

Venus and his new South African partner Raven Klassen, who are the 8th seed, have been pitted against the American and Spanish combination of Scott Lipsky and David Marrero.

They will face unseeded competition until the third round at the earliest where they could face 9th seeded Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez.

Venus and Klaasen are coming off a tight semi-final loss at last week's ASB Classic.

Despite a first round exit in Auckland, Marcus Daniell who is ranked 38 in the world, is pleased with his developing combination with Britain's Dominic Inglot.

The pair have been drawn against Canada's Adi Shamasdin and Britain's Neal Skupski.

A win would likely lead to a meeting with 13th seeded Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and Chile's Julio Peralta who made the semi-finals in Auckland.

53rd ranked Artem Sitak and his partner Wesley Koolhof will face Germany's Peter Gojowczyk and Florian Mayer, who are mainly singles players.

Sitak and Koolhof lost a tight first round match to Venus and Klaasen at the ASB Classic last week. But they did reach the semi-finals in Brisbane a week earlier and are confident of a strong showing in Melbourne.

Doubles play is expected to start on Wednesday.