To the probable delight of men everywhere, size does not always matter.

Large and larger, otherwise known as American John Isner and Croat Ivo Karlovic became the tallest doubles partnership in tennis on Wednesday when they played their first round match at the Australian Open.

With the tour's tallest man, Karlovic, standing at 2.08 metres, and Isner hitting the heights at 2.06 metres, the pair dwarfed their Argentine opponents, Juan Pablo Brzezicki and Agustin Calleri.

But Karlovic and Isner's towering presence did little to help their on-court fortunes as they were felled 7-6 6-3 by the 1.83 metre tall Calleri and 1.77 metre tall Brzezicki.

"It was a lot of fun," Karlovic said. "We will win together next time."

Isner said he'd had the idea to team up with Karlovic last year but his ranking was too low to get into the main draw of tournaments.

"I thought of it again some time around December and got in touch with (Karlovic)," he added.

The pair said they plan to play together again in the future, perhaps even on the faster grass courts at Wimbledon.

"It would probably be a better surface for us, so hopefully," Isner said.

Photograph: Getty Images | Text: Reuters