The preliminary contests started with 32 male pairs and 16 female duos aiming to earn one of four free spots in each of the main draws due to start on Wednesday (June 12).

Already there have been upsets - Italy's Claudia Lazzarini and Gaia Valmori, the number seven seeds in the women's doubles qualifying campaign, were well beaten by countrywomen Arianna Cirillo and Carmella Grasso, 6-2, 6-3.

The eighth seeds in the men's qualifying, Japan's Atsyua Maki and Fumitomo Ohno, also fell at the first hurdle, losing to Italy's Andrea Bolletta and Gianluca Cola, 7-5, 4-6, 10-5.

There was no such problem for women's qualifying sixth seeds Anna Galenko and Natalia Stepanova from Russia, however, as they breezed past team-mates Evgeniia Eliseeva and Liubov Voitenko 6-3, 6-0, while eighth ranked Cristina Abrami and Giulia Deiana, of Italy, also eased through in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3 against Italy's Anna Bussolari and Giulia Massina.

Men's qualifying seventh seeds, Russia's Ilya Akshumov and Artem Paramonychev, had a trickier time against Russia's Ivan Pokidin and Oleg Trusov, eventually winning through in three sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Play is due to continue with the final round of qualifying, with the top five women's qualifying seeds entering and the top six in the men's qualifying competition.

Men's qualifying seventh seeds, Russia's Ilya Akshumov and Artem Paramonychev, had a trickier time against Russia's Ivan Pokidin and Oleg Trusov, eventually winning through in three sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Play is due to continue with the final round of qualifying, with the top five women's qualifying seeds entering and the top six in the men's qualifying competition.