Novak Djokovic admitted he was ring rusty on his Wimbledon return, but he still set another record by battling past South Korean Kwon Soon-woo in four sets.
The six-time champion, who was playing his first official match on grass since winning last year's final, found himself a break down in both the first two sets, dropping the second.
Kwon was proving an awkward opponent with his aggressive shot-making but Djokovic, as he has so many times in the past, eventually found a way through the world number 81.
It was an 80th match win at the championships for Djokovic, making the 35-year-old the only player in history to win 80 matches at all four grand slam events.
After sealing a 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory with an ace, Djokovic said: "This court is truly special for me. It is the court I dreamed of playing and winning on, and all my dreams came true on this court.
"Credit to Kwon for playing some really high-quality tennis. Starting the tournament I didn't have any lead-up tournaments or matches so you are always going to feel less comfortable than you would like to, especially against someone as talented as Kwon.
"It was really difficult to go through him so I had to figure out a way tactically to get in control of the points.
"I faced a break point in the third which, if he had won, the match could have gone a different way."
The quest for title number seven is off to a successful start for @DjokerNole#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/CC92zySTbX
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 27, 2022
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina nearly wrote himself into Wimbledon folklore when an attempted trick shot almost led to one of the biggest collapses in tennis history.
The world number 37 from Spain was leading Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, a semi-finalist last year, by two sets and had three match points, at 5-3 40-0, in the third.
But on the first match point Davidovich Fokina attempted a tweener on the baseline, which he dumped into the net.
Fired-up Hurkacz promptly saved the next two match points and then went on to level the match at 2-2.
But Davidovich Fokina avoided a humiliating defeat when he won a fifth set tie-break for a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 5-7 2-6 7-6 (8-6) victory.
Third seed Casper Ruud, the French Open runner-up, won the battle of the claycourters against Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (9-7) 6-2.
Carlos Alcaraz, the teenage Spaniard seeded five, beat German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.
Carlos Alcaraz, that is STUNNING! 😮#Wimbledon | @carlosalcaraz pic.twitter.com/H9wmSmlLeU
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 27, 2022
Andy Murray proved his fitness by coming from a set down to beat unseeded Australian James Duckworth.
Britain's two-time former champion, who has been battling a stomach strain suffered a fortnight ago, even threw in an underarm serve to the delight of Centre Court.
Former world number one Murray ran out a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 winner in two hours and 43 minutes.
Ninth seed Cameron Norrie overcame two rain breaks in a 6-0 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over Pablo Andujar to reach the second round for a third successive year.
Former finalist Marin Cilic withdrew from the tournament on Monday due to illness, which he later revealed was Covid-19.
Cilic, who lost to Roger Federer in the 2017 final, was set to play Mackenzie McDonald on Tuesday but has been replaced in the draw by lucky loser Nuno Borges.
