Pat Rafter's comeback to tennis was shortlived, bowing out of the men's doubles draw alongside former world No.1 and close friend Lleyton Hewitt.

Rafter, the one-time golden boy of Australian tennis, attracted one of the largest crowds you are likely to see for a doubles match at the Australian Open.

It had been nine long years since the 41-year-old's last doubles appearance and 11 years since he retired from the sport, returning to the court in front of Goran Ivanisevic - who defeated Rafter in the 2001 Wimbledon final.

"[Goran] said it was F‑ing bad, not just bad, it was really bad," Rafter said.

"I said, yeah and he said 'you served okay'.. I don't know how he talks. He's Croatian. It was just fun.

"Goran and I have been hanging out. We played a fair few tournaments with each other in Europe. We got to spend a fair amount of time with each other. He takes the piss out of me and he thinks it's funny.

With Hewitt hellbent on playing in the doubles, Rafter answered his call and on Wednesday showed why he even considered a return to centre stage.

In front of an estimated crowd of 7000 on Wednesday evening at Hisense Arena, Rafter and Hewitt went down in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 to American Eric Butorac and South African Raven Klaasen in the first round.

Channel Seven even copped plenty of grief from disgruntled fans on social media for switching from the Hewitt-Rafter match to Samantha Stosur on Rod Laver Arena.

Rafter, the two-time US Open champion, was happy with most of his game but admitted he struggled returning serve.

"I started off all right," he said.

"I made a return on the very first game and it was the last one I made. It was always my big concern out here. I thought I could serve okay and volley okay but the return was awful and I lived up to expectation."

Australia's Davis Cup captain said he couldn't even call on his coaching expertise to get them through.

"I just needed to get the return back, I just needed to give Lleyton a chance and add pressure to their serve," Rafter said.

"If someone isn't doing something there's not much you can say to your teammate. I was saying to myself 'you're not doing a great job here - you have to try and pick your act up', but I couldn't do it. You try your hardest but that's all you've got."

Even former world No.1 Roger Federer found time in his busy schedule to watch the Aussie legends in action.

"Watching Doubles on TV, love it #Hewitt #Rafter c'mon, after that @stanwawrinka the #stanimal," Federer tweeted on Wednesday night.

Hewitt admitted Rafter's return was his downfall, but said the rest of his game kept the pair in the match.

"As he said, he served very well," Hewitt said.

"After so many shoulder problems and surgeries, sometimes that's the toughest thing.  That was obviously his strength today. Sort of kept us in it today, holding his tight service games.

"Those guys played well, though.  They served well to both of us.  He played well.  A bit of fun.  It was a good crowd atmosphere out there.  It was good for the tournament, I think."

It began well for the Australians, holding their first two service games before they were broken in the fifth game of the opening set.

It proved the difference in the first set, with Butorac and Klaasen holding on to win the first set 6-4.

Both teams managed to hold serve in the second set until 5-5, when the Australians were broken.

Rafter admitted he was copping it from plenty of friends for his decision to come out of retirement.

"I was a bit nervous because I was copping it in the locker room at my expense," he said

"[Ivan] Lendl is a menace. He's an absolute pest of a guy so he was in there giving it to me. I didn't want to make an idiot of myself so I think I got through okay. It was a bit of fun."