Kyle Edmund made short work of his return to the court on day three of the French Open, needing just under 10 minutes to complete a five-set win over Jeremy Chardy.
The British No 1 has endured a torrid few months with injury and illness and took to the court on Monday seeking a first victory of any kind since early April.
Having taken the first and third sets, Edmund twice looked well placed to progress but roared on by the home crowd, Chardy fought back until the pair were locked at 5-5 in the fifth set amid gathering gloom at Roland Garros.
When the pair took to Court No 7 on Tuesday morning, it was an inspired Edmund that completed the job, a couple of trademark booming forehands and a couple of unforced Chardy errors sealing the win and a date with Pablo Cuevas in the second round.
Edmund joins Johanna Konta in reaching the second round and continues his record of never losing in the first round at Roland Garros.
"Best of five was a marathon, but this was a sprint today, and I just went for it. It's tricky, especially emotionally. You're in the match and then you've got to switch off," he said.
"I got out of here 11pm last night, and arrived at 9am today. 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."
Dan Evans was unable to join Edmund in the second round, despite a creditable performance against 23rd seed Fernando Verdasco.
The British No 3 is not known for his clay court exploits and suffered his third first-round exit in as many appearances at Roland Garros, as he lost 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-2 against the experienced Spaniard.
Evans proved a tough obstacle for the 2009 Australian Open semi-finalist in the three-hour-and-25-minute encounter, as he recovered from a break deficit to take the second set on a tiebreak.
But Verdasco, who has reached the fourth round on seven previous occasions, won a tight third set before proving the dominant force in the fourth set, during which Evans received treatment to his right calf.
The news was also not good for British No 2 Cameron Norrie, up to a career-high 43 in the world rankings, who had high hopes of a decent run in Paris after a favourable draw.
However, up against world No 273 Elliot Benchetrit, he slumped to a shock 6-3 6-0 6-2 defeat to the Frenchman who broke early and, with the crowd on his side, never looked back.
A run of nine successive games took Benchetrit from a break up in the first to a two-set lead with a break in the third, as Norrie wilted.
Norrie had originally been scheduled to face Nick Kyrgios before the volatile Australian withdrew through illness, but said: "I probably would have preferred to play this guy.
"Nick is a ridiculous player. He could have easily chopped me, as well. I don't think I would have beaten anyone today."
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