Britain’s Joe Salisbury and American partner Rajeev Ram are out of the Australian Open after losing to Tomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen in the third round in Melbourne.

The Czech-Chinese pair fought back from a set down to beat the third seeds 3-6 6-3 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals.

Salisbury and Ram were bidding for a second straight Grand Slam title after their US Open triumph in September.

They have won four majors together, including the Australian Open in 2020.

“We played such great tennis. We were returning like animals and he [Zhang], I don’t know what he was serving like, he was serving very well,” said Machac.

Machac and Zhang, who are playing in their first tournament together, could face Britain’s Neal Skupski and Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez in the last eight.

Fifth seeds Skupski and Gonzalez face Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Czech Adam Pavlasek on Monday.