Until Friday, Nellie Hillner and Ari Saldana had never played doubles together. A successful start has earned the pair another round to improve on their teamwork.

Hillner, who just concluded her freshman year at A&M Consolidated, teamed with Saldana of Cedar Park for an 8-4 victory over the Austin duo of Amy Bellanger and Allyson Goertz in an opening-round Girls 16 Doubles match in the Texas Summer Grand Slam.

Hillner and Saldana didn't even know each other before deciding to team up for the state's biggest junior tennis tournament.

"I think my friend's mom gave me [Hillner's] phone number, and we called them and they said OK," Saldana said.

The pair had an early misstep when they looked at each other after a soft return shot split them down the middle. But the new teammates recovered nicely to build a 4-1 edge at Miramount Country Club.

"It's still a learning experience," Hillner said.

Bellanger and Goertz rallied to tie the match at 4.

The catalyst for the comeback came on Goertz's serve in the sixth game. She survived four break points in a game that went to deuce four times before the Austin duo cut Hillner and Saldana's lead to 4-2.

Goertz struggled with her service toss in a swirling wind that picked up just prior to the match.

But the momentum of her service victory in the longest game of the match carried over to the next game. Bellanger and Goertz broke Saldana's serve at love. Then Bellanger lost only one point to hold serve and knot the match at 4.

"I think we just got a little jumpy and needed to calm down," Saldana said.

They did, with Hillner regaining the advantage on her serve. That began a run of four straight games, and it finished with some of their best shots of the match. Saldana poked a volley over the head of both Goertz and Bellanger for a point, and Hillner's down-the-line forehand pushed her new team to match point.

Saturday marks the first singles competition of the Grand Slam, and the new doubles partners could play two singles matches before returning to doubles competition at 6:30 p.m. In singles play, Hillner will face Houston's Kate Davis at 9:15 a.m. at Sam Rayburn Middle School, while Saldana opens singles play at 8 a.m. at Miramont. With victories, both would play second-round matches Saturday.

"I'm more of a singles player," Hillner said. "I enjoyed it. It helps to get started [with doubles]."

Hillner won three matches in 14 singles at last year's Grand Slam.

• David Campbell's e-mail address is david.campbell@theeagle.com.

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