ATHENS -- Smooth and strong, the Australian duo of Julian Prosser and Mark Williams surprised Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard of the United States in straight sets (21-16, 21-14) in their opening Pool E game Saturday night at the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre.

The Australian duo, seeded No. 17, beat the eighth-seeded Americans with a strategy that combined short serves and the strong net play of Williams.

Sometimes by just a twitch, sometimes by what seemed a full second, Prosser and Williams anticipated Blanton's defensive prowess. And when Nygaard went on the attack at net, Williams was there to blunt his hitting skills.

Three times en route to an 11-6 lead in the first set, Williams roofed Nygaard. Soon, Prosser made it 12-7, then 13-8, smashing both points through Nygaard's outstretched arms.

In neutralizing Nygaard at the net, the Aussies manipulated Blanton's movement in the backcourt. By the end of the first set, the sprawling American's shoulders were coated with a dust of fine sand.

Set two seesawed its way to 15-14 Australia before Prosser and Williams went on a 6-0 run that included -- just to keep the match's theme alive - Williams' roof job on Nygaard to make it 17-14.

Fans filed out of the Beach Volleyball Centre soon after Williams' spike past a diving Blanton, off a gravity-defying set from Prosser, underscored the point that the Aussies were relaxed and ready for the power game Blanton and Nygaard crave.

Prosser and Williams go against Switzerland's Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel in Monday morning's first game, and Blanton and Nygaard face Canada's John Child and Mark Hesse later that afternoon.