Tim Henman gave flagging British morale a boost ahead of the start of Wimbledon next week when he won only his second match on the men's tour this year to ease into the second round of the Nottingham Open.
The former British No. 1, four times a semi-finalist at Wimbledon, beat US player Michael Russell 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).
The 32-year-old Henman was far from his best as he capitalized on a string of errors from his opponent but voiced satisfaction at having been able to get over the first hurdle in a tournament he only entered after a first-round exit at Queen's last week.
"The second set was much harder than the first -- I came through some really good games and the tiebreak typified that," Henman said.
"It is never going to be plain sailing. Those are the great games to come through. I did not play my best, but when I needed to I was able to come out with some good shots and that was important to me."
Henman was not prepared to look further ahead than his second-round meeting with second seed Dmitry Tursunov, who swept past Robert Kendrick of the US 6-1, 6-4.
Another Briton, Alex Bogdanovic, went out to Mexican Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 7-6 (13/11) in a match that had been carried over from Monday.
British No. 1 Andy Murray is meanwhile struggling to be fit for Wimbledon as a result of a wrist injury he suffered in Hamburg last month, which forced him to miss the French Open.
The 20-year-old had been scheduled to return to action on Wednesday at an exhibition tournament but that was put back for 24 hours at least.
The day's only upset was provided by Russian Igor Kunitsyn, who beat third seed Agustin Calleri of Argentina 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-4.
Veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman, a former winner here, wasted no time in disposing of Briton Richard Bloomfield 6-2, 6-0.
Four-time defending champion Roger Federer was seeded No. 1 for Wimbledon yesterday, with Justine Henin getting the top spot for the women.
Last year's runner-up, Rafael Nadal, was seeded No. 2 ahead of Andy Roddick. Defending women's champion Amelie Mauresmo was seeded No. 4 in line with her world ranking.
Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam tournament of the year, begins on Monday. The draw will be held tomorrow.
In determining the seedings, Wimbledon took past performances on grass into account. The seedings at other Grand Slams mirror the rankings.
The top 18 women are seeded according to their WTA ranking, with French Open champion Henin No. 1 in her attempt to improve upon her performance as losing Wimbledon finalist in 2001 and 2006.
Maria Sharapova, who won the 2004 title at age 17, is seeded No. 2, followed by Jelena Jankovic. Two-time winner and Australian Open champion Serena Williams is No. 7.
Below the top three men, there were mostly minor movements against the rankings. Fifth-ranked Novak Djokovic was moved up to the No. 4 seeding after winning in Estoril, Miami and Adelaide this year and losing to Nadal in the French Open semi-finals.
Eleventh-ranked Tomas Berdych was seeded No. 7, switching places with Tommy Robredo, while Marcos Baghdatis was the biggest beneficiary of the system. The Cypriot player, who lost to Nadal in straight sets in last year's semi-finals, was seeded at No. 10, six places above his ATP ranking.
Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion, was No. 16, three spots above his ranking.
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