Neil Robertson set up a mouth-watering second-round clash against Ronnie O'Sullivan by ending Ryan Day's challenge with a 10-5 win in the 888.com World Championship.
The Australian, the only man to have captured two ranking titles this season, was always in command having opened a 4-0 lead and comfortably disposed of the world number 17 from Wales.
A run of 68 that completed his success which was the 25-year-old's second highest of the match and Robertson insisted the lack of high breaks had been due to the conditions in the Crucible arena.
'I don't think it could have been any worse,' he said.
'It was boiling hot and almost impossible to play well. Neither Ryan or I could control the cue ball and there were a lot of kicks. It was just incredible.
'Hopefully the tables will play a lot better for my match against Ronnie. I think regardless of that I'll really be up for it and that I will play a lot better.
'I've beaten Ronnie twice this season so far and that gives me a lot of confidence. They were shorter matches but over the best of 25 it gives you a lot more freedom.'
Day agreed it had been a low-quality encounter and the table had not been conducive to producing the desired standard.
'It was quite a poor game all day,' said the 27-year-old from Bridgend.
'We can both play a lot better than we did. It was a struggle.
'I hope they re-cloth the table for Neil's next match otherwise he could struggle again. We were chatting between frames and saying the cushions were an absolute joke - you didn't know where you were with them.'
A run of eight consecutive frames enabled Mark Selby to turn around his first-round match against 10th seed Stephen Lee and complete a 10-7 victory.
The 23-year-old from Leicester, who knocked out former champion John Higgins at the same stage last year, struggled to get going when the contest began and found himself 5-0 down after Lee compiled breaks of 125, 71 and 67.
But Selby then found his rhythm and, after reducing his deficit to 5-4 overnight, he reeled off four more frames to lead 8-5 and was always in control from that point.
'Considering I had been 5-0 down I was more than happy with 5-4 going into today," said world number 28 Selby, who will meet 2002 winner Peter Ebdon in round two.
'To get back to that score was like winning the match itself.
'I've been working really hard on my game, I have a lot more confidence in my game and it was just a matter of keeping the nerves under control today.'
Lee, who missed the last ranking tournament, the China Open, for personal reasons, felt lack of match practice had been against him but offered no other excuses.
'I just played crap, plain and simple,' said the 32-year-old from Wiltshire. 'I should have kept my foot on his throat last night when he couldn't pot a ball.
'It's annoying when you can't beat someone who isn't playing well.
'I had the China Open off and put some extra work in and was hitting the ball nicely in practice. But it's hard work when you've had a month without playing a tournament.
'I can't wait for the summer now to forget about this stupid game.'
Stephen Hendry averted a second consecutive first-round exit from this event as he fought back for a 10-7 victory against David Gilbert.
The seven-time former champion was knocked out by Nigel Bond at the opening hurdle last year and looked in grave danger of another early defeat when he trailed 5-1 to Gilbert in the first session.
But he had reduced his arrears to 5-4 going into today's conclusion and the Scot's vast experience ultimately carried him over the winning line.
'I had to dig deep,' said the world number one, who meets Ali Carter or Andy Hicks in the second round on Saturday.
'I thought my attitude and concentration was fantastic through the whole match, which is something I had been working hard on. If my attitude had been better last year I wouldn't have lost in the first round.
'I could easily have chucked this match at 5-1 down, so I'm delighted with the way I dug in and won nine of the next 11 frames. I thought that was a tremendous performance.'
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