Cerutti and Bruno combined to defeat Israeli and Italian opponents to finish top of the Pool B standings and move into the next round at the Olympic Tennis Centre in Barra de Tijuca.

Their first victims were Sean Faiga and Ariel Hilman of Israel with the Brazilians claiming a 21-17, 21-19 success.

Cerutti and Bruno then secured their place atop the standings when they secured a 21-16, 21-18 victory of the Italian duo of Alex Ranghieri and Adrian Ignacio Carambula Raurich.

Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai of Italy were also on form today as they won Pool H.

The Rio 2016 silver medallists opened their account for the tournament with a 21-13, 21-15 win over the Polish pairing of Maciej Rudol and Jakub Szalankiewicz.

However, their second match of the day proved slightly trickier as they were forced to come from a set down to beat Norway’s Christian Sandlie Sorum and Mathias Bernsten.

Also in action in the men’s event today were the Dutch duo of Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen.

They made it through Pool D with two victories but were taken to three sets on both occasions.

They first beat Oscar Brandao and Hevaldo Sabino Moreira 21-13, 19-21, 15-13.

A second victory soon followed as they overcame Theodore Brunner and Casey Patterson of the United States 21-18, 14-21, 15-13.

In the women’s competition, Rio 2016 gold medallists Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany secured first place in Pool B.

Seeded second in Rio, Ludwig and Walkenhorst opened with a 22-20, 21-19 win over Alexandra Jupiter and Ophelie Lusson of France.

The Germans then secured their place in the next round with a 14-21, 21-19, 20-18 win in 52 minutes over Juliana Felisberta and Carolina Salgado of Brazil.

Much to the delight of their home crowd, the Brazilian paring of Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca, the top seeds, also made it through.

They opened Group A with a 21-7, 21-14 win over Japan’s Miki Ishii and Megumi Murakami before securing a 21-16, 21-12 success over the America duo of Lauren Fendrick and Lane Carico.