Americans Nicholas Taylor and David Wagner are the 10-time champions and the ones to beat as they made a stellar start to 2018 campaign at the Wheelchair Doubles Masters ©Getty Images

Americans Nicholas Taylor and David Wagner began their defence of the Wheelchair Doubles Masters quad title with a straight sets victory over compatriot Greg Hasterok and South Africa’s Lucas Sithole in Bemmel.

The 10-time champions dominated the opening match 6-2, 6-1 in The Netherlands at the Sportcentrum de Schaapskooi.

The 2016 winners and last year’s runners-up British pair Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne also made a good start to this latest campaign.

Cotterill and Lapthorne overcame losing the first set and recovered to beat Bryan Barten of the United States and his Brazilian partner Ymanity Silva, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

British pair Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne are looking to qualify for the finals of the Wheelchair Doubles Masters in Bemmel to avenge their silver medals from last year ©Getty Images
British pair Antony Cotterill and Andy Lapthorne are looking to qualify for the finals of the Wheelchair Doubles Masters in Bemmel to avenge their silver medals from last year ©Getty Images

French duo Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer were drawn against Spain’s Daniel Caverzaschi and Martin de la Puente again this year.

The Spanish pair closed the gap to their French rivals as they scored more games, but were still defeated 6-3, 6-4.

Wimbledon finalist and British Open champions Joachim Gerard and Stefan Olsson also registered an opening win in straight sets.

The Belgian and Swedish players eased past Agustin Ledesma of Argentina and Daniel Rodrigues of Brazil, 6-0, 6-1.

The same score line was achieved by the second seeds, Britain's Gordon Reid and Argentina's Gustavo Fernandez, as they beat Japan's Asian Games gold medallists Shingo Kunieda and Takashi Sanada.