Top Zimbabwean tennis players Cara Black and Kevin Ullyett got off to a good start at the Medibank International tournament in Sydney, Australia on Monday, The Herald reported on Tuesday.

The two players progressed through to the second round of the doubles competition of the Tier II tournament which they are using to fine-tune themselves for next week's first Grand Slam of the year, the Australia Open in Melbourne.

First on the courts yesterday was Black and her South African partner, Liezel Huber, who came up against the unheralded Australian pair of Monique Adamczak and Casey Dellacqua in the first round of the women's doubles.

And Black and Huber, who are seeded second, stopped their unseeded opponents in straight sets, winning 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

Up next for Black and Huber in the second round is the pair of American Vania King and Tiantian Sun of China.

King and Sun booked a second round date with Black and Huber after posting an easy 6-4, 6-1 victory over France's Nathalie Dechy and Vera Zvonareva of Russia in the other first round match. Both teams were unseeded.

Former Zimbabwe Davis Cup team player Ullyett, who is back on the road for the second year running with his Australian partner, Paul Hanley, is also in the search for honors.

Ullyett and Hanley, who are seeded third in the men's doubles, wasted no time in dispatching Julien Benneteau of France and Austria's Julien Knowle 6-4, 6-3 in the first round on Monday.

And after having successfully negotiated their way past the opening round yesterday, the two teams of Black-Huber and Ullyett-Hanley must now be fancying their chances of winning the women's and men's doubles titles of the Medibank International tournament.

The Medibank International tournament is one of small tournaments that are being used by a number of the world's top players as part of their final preparations for the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, which starts next Monday in Melbourne.

Black and Huber have entered this year's Australian Open where they will be among the top-seeded pairs in the women's doubles competition.

The 2005 Wimbledon women's doubles champions will be gunning for their second Grand Slam title in two years in Melbourne.