The Italians swept aside Bulgaria with a dominant 3-0 win, before Brazil followed suit later on in the day by beating Hungary by the same scoreline.

Italy, the top seeds, got off to the best possible start in their tie with the Bulgarians as Sofia Cimatti and Giulia Gasparri claimed a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1 success against Katina Simeonova and Lazrina Stefanova.

They were guaranteed a place in the next round when Michele Cappelletti and Matteo Marighella thrashed Emil Argirov and Dimitar Simeonov 6-0, 6-1 in the second rubber.

The whitewash was then complete as Marighella and Federica Bacchetta beat Simeonov and Simeonova without losing a game.

Brazil were also in good form as they proved too strong for Hungary, progressing by virtue of clinching victory in all three matches.

Joanna Cortez and Rafaella Miiller got the Brazilians on the board with a resounding 6-1, 6-0 triumph over Monika Erdelyi and Aniko Kovacs, before Marcus Ferreira and Thales Santos moved them to an unassailable 2-0 lead as they ousted Marcus Ferreira and Thales Santos 6-0, 6-3.

Santos and Samantha Barijan then put the gloss on the scoreline as they breezed past Bozsik and Kovacs 4-1, 4-1.

Elsewhere, third seeds Russia are also through as they beat Estonia 3-0, while Spain downed neighbours and rivals Portugal by winning all three rubbers.

On a day where none of the seeded teams suffered a shock defeat, Japan, seeded fourth, beat Lithuania 3-0 and the United States edged Israel 2-1.

There were also wins for Venezuela and France over Belarus and Switzerland respectively.

A record total of 33 nations are taking part in the fifth edition of the ITF Beach Tennis World Team Championship

The World Team Championship and the individual ITF Beach Tennis World Championships are the flagship events on the ITF Beach Tennis Tour.

Action in Moscow is due to continue tomorrow.