A rejuvenated Tim Henman put his sluggish start to the Wimbledon championships behind him today, surging into the third round with a 6-4 6-4 6-3 winover Frenchman Michael Llodra.
A packed Centre Court crowd and more than a thousand "Henman Hillbillies" glued to a giant screen in the grounds roared the 10th seed on as he once again stands as a lone British survivor at the grasscourt grand slam.
No Briton has won his home slam since Fred Perry in 1936 nor reached the final since Bunny Austin in 1938. Henman has reached the semi-finals on four occasions but always fallen just short.
If he is to stand a chance of rewriting British tennis history this year, he is likely to have to overcome sixth seed David Nalbandian also in his part of the draw.
Nalbandian is an Argentine baseliner who has played Wimbledon just once before. However, despite his fondness for lurking at the back of the court, last year he reached the final on his debut.
The burly Argentine showed he is in fine form again in southwest London, pulverising Brazil's Andre Sa 6-2 7-5 6-2 on court one.
In the women's draw, two former grand slam champions showed form of old to advance.
Eighth seed Jennifer Capriati thrashed Swiss Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian 6-2 6-1 and, more impressively, unseeded Mary Pierce ousted 14th seed Eleni Daniilidou 6-4 6-1.
Fifteenth seed Elena Dementieva, of Russia, beat Spain's Arantxa Parra 6-1 6-1 and 10th seed Anastasia Myskina beat Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-1 6-4 in an all-Russian battle.
Next up for Henman is another qualifier, Robin Soderling. The Swede beat Gilles Elseneer, of Belgium, 2-6 7-6 6-4 6-3.
Women's top seed and champion Serena Williams takes on Els Callens later today, while men's second seed Andre Agassi faces German Lars Burgsmueller.