The phrase "stuck up a gum tree" might have been coined for Tim Henman's trials and tribulations in the Australian Open, where his record over the past four years has been only marginally better than on the red clay of Roland Garros, his least favourite surface.
Melbourne's intense summer heat, coupled with its capricious tinder-dry winds, have all too often combined to unravel the British number one's suspect service and vulnerable forehand, and no one would have been much surprised if he had lost his opening match against the unorthodox and highly dangerous Frenchman Jerome Golmard.
But after losing the first set, when all his frailties again surfaced like basking fish in the nearby Yarra river, Henman discovered sufficient resolve to forge a 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 victory, although "forge" is perhaps too dynamic a word, with its implications of a steady and sure path.
Golmard, who had won a tournament in India before yesterday's start of this year's opening grand slam, and who had not previously lost a first-round match here, was never more than a few points from turning the match his way but for once - and he must sincerely hope it is something he can sustain - Henman's first serve frequently found its mark, with 30 aces in total.
His defeat of Golmard saw Henman predictably emphasise the benefits of a more intensively physical training regime, coupled with much hard work on his serve, which has always been a manufactured rather than a natural weapon.
Indeed the fact that Henman described this victory, which apart from the consistency of his serve had no other special merit, as "outside Wimbledon, probably one of my most satisfying wins" emphasised the low ebb of expectation he had reached at the end of last year.
He next plays Germany's Rainer Schuttler, who holds a 2-1 career advantage over Henman and who won the tournament in Doha earlier this month, displaying a marked all-court improvement. Naturally enough Henman has an eye on a quarter-final against Sampras, who cruised through his opening match against Wayne Arthurs of Australia, echoing Andre Agassi's straightforward 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 opening win over Argentina's Mariano Puerta.
The 1995 Australian Open champion needed less than 90 minutes to down the lowly-ranked Puerta in a lop-sided match on centre court, confidently whipping winners across the court from the baseline.
"I felt like I did everything I needed to and hope to play better as I go on," Agassi said.
The American made few errors and gave Puerta just one opportunity to break serve, which the 21-year-old failed to convert.
"That's always a good feeling when you're out there focused on making it a miserable day for your opponent. That seems to be more my mindset these days and that keeps me focused," Agassi said.
Henman benefited from the day's one major shock which saw last year's beaten finalist, Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, defeated in five sets by the 29-year-old Tasmanian Richard Fromberg. Enqvist, seeded number six, was drawn to meet Henman in the fourth round.
After recovering from two sets down and engineering two match points for himself at 7-6 in the fifth Enqvist squandered them both and Fromberg won it 10-8, on his fourth match point.
Todd Martin (number eight) and Mark Philippoussis (number 16) survived in five sets against Byron Black and the Israeli qualifier Noam Okun respectively
