Andy Murray skidded his way across the All England Club's untouched Centre Court but there was no first round banana skin as he started his Wimbledon defence in style.
Murray took just over two hours to progress past world number 103 David Goffin - meaning he didn't join an infamous club that includes just Manuel Santana and Lleyton Hewitt, the only players to lose in the first round of their title defence here.
Both players struggled with their footing on the lush, verdant and pristine surface but Murray broke the Belgian at the first attempt to establish control of the match that he never lost, winning 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.
Goffin had once taken Roger Federer to four sets at the French Open but he'd never beaten a player ranked in the top ten in nine previous attempts and had only ever won two matches on grass.
He was also looking for just his fourth victory of the year, while at the same time doing his best not to appear overawed by his debut on the signature court of his sport.
"It was a very high standard match, he was a bit nervous at the beginning but in the second and third set the standard really increased," said Murray.
"Sometimes you can win in three sets and not play well but I struck the ball well and it's a good start for me.
"I was pretty nervous this morning and walking to the court brings back a lot of good memories. But I need to move on from last year and get ready for this tournament."
Elsewhere, British number three James Ward was eliminated by Russia's Mikhail Younzhy, the number 17 seed booking his progress to the second round 6-2, 6-2, 6-1.
British number three and world number 109 Johanna Konta failed to make up the 49 ranking places between her and first round opponent, Chinese number three Shuai Peng.
Konta, in her third Wimbledon appearance, was always in the match but went down 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
"Obviously I would have liked to have played better but I don't really believe in looking back at matches and thinking about what I could have done, should have done," said Konta.
"I need to look forward now really and just improve on the things that I didn't do so well, just do things to the best of my ability to not make the same mistakes."
However, Konta's recent performances means she should break in the world's top 100 for the first time when the new rankings are released in a fortnight.
"I'm not sure if it's consolation," she added.
"Obviously it's a small milestone for me, so obviously I take a lot of pride in that, am very happy about that. But obviously that's not my main goal."
© Sportsbeat 2014