The American pair, who beat Brazilians Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes to secure third place on the Olympic podium, had a short turnaround before arriving in California for the latest World Series event.

Ross admitted they had struggled in their preparations for the Long Beach Grand Slam having spent just two days at home since flying back from Rio de Janeiro late last week.

They appeared unaffected in their first match, however, as they overcame Carolina Horta Maximo and Ana Patricia Silva Ramos of Brazil 21-17, 21-19 in Pool A.

Jennings, a three-time Olympic champion, and Ross then completed a successful opening day with a 21-16, 21-17 triumph over Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Taylor Pischke.

“This is a huge tournament, the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball, it’s the best in the world, we're fighting for another gold medal,” Walsh Jennings said.

“It’s not the Olympic gold medal but the prize money is huge, the exposure is huge for our sport so we need to show up.

“People are showing up to see us play how we played in Rio with that heart and that flag on our chest.

“We’re here to do our best.”

Franca and Antunes, who came into the Rio 2016 Olympic tournament as the top ranked team in the world but missed out on a place on the podium, also secured two wins today.

They were made to work hard for their first success as they battled to a 19-21, 21-15, 15-3 victory against American pair Kelley Larsen and Betsi Flint, before the Brazilians beat China’s Chen Xue and Ningya Tang 21-13, 21-10.

In the men’s competition, American duo Nick Lucena and Phil Dalhausser, who also represented their country at Rio 2016, ousted France’s surprising 32nd-seeded Romain Di Giatommaso and Maxime Thiercy 21-10, 21-17 in just 29 minutes.

The biggest shock of the day came when America’s fourth-seeded Olympians Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson fell in straight sets to Brazil’s Thiago Barbosa and George Wanderley, 22-24, 17-21.