Kyle Edmund put his inner Mo Farah to one side and instead channelled Dina Asher-Smith as he raced to complete his first-round French Open triumph against Jeremy Chardy.
The British No.1 had endured the frustration of seeing the match postponed with the scores balanced at 5-5 in the fifth set after bad light had stopped play on Monday.
But the 24-year-old refused to let nature have its way with his progress at Roland Garros, taking all of ten minutes to wrap up victory when he held his serve before breaking the Frenchman immediately to advance to the second round with a 7-6 (7-1) 5-7 6-4 4-6 7-5 scoreline.
"Best of five was a marathon – but this was a sprint and I just went for it,” he said.
“It's tricky, especially emotionally. You're in the match and then you've got to switch off.
"I got out of here 11pm last night and arrived at 9am [on Tuesday]. It's all part of the game. I think that is the longest match I've played. It was really good for me to come through that test.
“To come through that was great for me. I’m very happy with it. Great fight, good character, good composure, especially in an environment like that. And physically, it was lots of positives for me. That was great to take forward.”
The former Australian Open semi-finalist is rewarded with a last-64 match-up against Uruguayan world number 47 Pablo Cuevas on Thursday in what will be the first time the pair have met.
While Edmund advanced, however, both Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans could only battle to defeats – Evans losing out 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-2 to Fernando Verdasco and Norrie falling 6-3 6-0 6-2 to French qualifier Elliot Benchetrit.
Elsewhere, Jamie Murray failed to end his fruitful men’s doubles partnership with Bruno Soares with an elusive French Open title.
The duo had claimed Australian Open and US Open titles as a pairing but were downed 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-4) in their first-round match.
His torch is instead taken up by Skupski brothers Neal and Ken, who beat compatriots Jonny O’Mara and Luke Bambridge 6-2 6-2, with fellow siblings Bob and Mike Bryan lying in wait in round two.
Sportsbeat 2019