On paper, Johanna Konta's straight sets victory against Natalia Vikhlantseva was the routine start to this year's Wimbledon the British number one would have wanted; yet it was anything but.
Konta was pushed to the limit by the spirited young Russian and had to draw upon every fibre of her experience and class to eventually prevail 7-5 7-6 (9-7).
The first set was full of impressive serving and Konta displayed the power and consistency which has lifted her as high as fourth in the world just last year, pouncing on bad serves and forcing faults from her 21-year-old opponent.
She took the first set 7-5 and looked odds-on to complete a routine win when she was on the brink of breaking a visibly deflated Vikhlantseva for a second time when already 4-2 up.
But a terrific resurgence from the Russian meant it was 27-year-old Konta scrabbling to save two set points before eventually sealing the win on a tie-break, the dogged defence of Vikhlantseva rescuing five match points before the British star’s winning volley.
And Konta, semi-finalist at the All-England Club last time out, took great heart from being forced to dig deep in order to eliminate a gutsy first-round opponent.
“It was a tough match – she has a good game and she’s very tricky on grass as we know,” Konta said afterwards.
“She did a good job and made me work very hard. It was a great match for me to have and one to battle through.
“The way I kept regrouping [was most pleasing]. It would have been easy for me to get discouraged when I got broken after coming so close to breaking her again.
“I think the way I competed and the way I kept going after every single point; I can take a lot from that.
“I think it’s the tough matches – the one where there’s a bit of ebb and flow, where you have set points and where you save break points – those are the matches where you come away feeling quite tough.
“Nerves are going to be there. They’re there for everybody and definitely not special in that sense but I think I completed well and dealt with the occasion.”
Konta’s victory sets up a third-round clash with experienced Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova, a quarter-finalist at SW19 in 2011 and 2016.
And she is under no illusions that that clash will be equally tough, also insisting she was focused on building her campaign this year rather than looking back to the fond memories of her run to the last four in 2017.
“I’m not playing this year’s championships on how I played last year,” she added. “I take forward the incredible experiences and the memories of last year, and I cherish them very much.
“But I’m here as 2018 Johanna Konta and I’m playing it on the challenge and triumphs of here and now, and looking forward to fighting my way through as many rounds as I can.
“[Cibulkova] is probably one of the best competitors on tour and has been for quite some time.
“She’s a feisty player and it will be a great test for me in terms of controlling what I can control and accept she’s going to fight her way into some points and stay there until the very end.” By Jimmy Booker at Wimbledon Sportsbeat 2018