Australian Open: Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergea stun the Bryan brothers

Britain's Dominic Inglot and Romanian partner Florin Mergea caused a massive upset in the men's doubles at the Australian Open, knocking out top seeds and six-time champions Bob and Mike Bryan in the third round.

The Bryan brothers are the most successful pairing in the open era, with the American twins winning a total of 16 Grand Slam titles and more than 100 tournaments in total.

But 14th seeds Inglot and Mergea produced a brilliant performance on Hisense Arena on Monday, rallying from 4-1 down in the opening set to win it in a tie-break and then taking the second 6-3.

"Beating the Bryan brothers on a big stadium like this in front of a huge crowd, it does not really get any better than that," said the 6ft 4in Inglot, who reached the quarter-finals last year with former partner Treat Huey.

"The crowd was fantastic. We have been training really hard and making sure we were ready, and Florin has really helped me with confidence and having this winning mentality and drive.

"I shouldn't say this but the Bryans are the one team you don't want to meet in the draw. If you look through the draw and you're not near them you breathe a sigh of relief.

"They can be quite intimidating and even towards the end of our match were doing things to say 'If you want this, you're going to have to win it' and Florin said 'we have to stay aggressive and push, push, push and take it'. I'm really happy with how it went and hopefully it can continue." 

Mergea added: "It was a great experience today. I've played the Bryans a few times and they are the legends when it comes to doubles. It was a good match and we are really happy right now."

Inglot and Mergea will face sixth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in the quarter-finals, but Britain's Jamie Murray and Australian John Peers had earlier lost in three sets to fourth seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo.

Inglot, who was the tennis double for actor Paul Bettany in the film Wimbledon, admitted playing with Mergea was the result of a happy accident, adding: "I wanted to play with Joao Sousa [who lost to Andy Murray in the third round of the singles here] so I called Florin and asked if he had Joao's number.

"He said 'don't do anything, I have to go and play a match'. He lost and then came back and said 'let's play together'. We have been trying different thingsthe last few months and now they are starting to kick in."

Inglot's performance could give captain Leon Smith something of a selection dilemma for Britain's Davis Cup tie with the United States in Glasgow in March, although Inglot knows Jamie Murray remains favourite to partner his brother Andy in the doubles.

"I think you always want Andy in your team and if he wants to combine with Jamie... but you would have to ask Leon," Inglot added. "If he calls me up, brilliant, I love representing Great Britain and it's a privilege. But if not you have Jamie or Colin Fleming."