Rafael Nadal survived a major scare against unheralded Robin Haase to progress to the third round of Wimbledon with a 5-7 6-2 3-6 6-0 6-3 victory.
Facing a player positioned 150 places lower than him in the ATP rankings, the world No.1 took a battering in a one-sided third set that hinted at a sensational upset.
Dutchman Haase, who was troubled by a foot injury from the second set onwards, produced some wonderful strokes that brought Centre Court to its feet.
But the 23-year-old's otherwise outstanding serve fell apart in the fourth set and Nadal capitalised and never relinquished control.
"It was a very difficult match and I knew it would be because he's a good server. I was playing well all the time," said Nadal.
"I had to stay in there, try to concentrate, focus and fight all the time. On this surface it is very difficult to stop him."
"Everybody prefers to win in three sets, but it's not possible all of the time, especially on this surface because it all depends on a few points."
"I probably played four bad points in two sets and I lost both of them. That's what the match was like."
Robin Soderling is flying the Swedish flag alone in the men's singles but looking capable of carrying on the country's rich tradition of Wimbledon success.
His compatriot Bjorn Borg ranks among Wimbledon's greatest champions and Stefan Edberg was a two-time winner, so Soderling has plenty to live up to.
On Thursday the sixth seed beat Spain's Marcel Granollers 7-5 6-1 6-4 in the second round, and following his appearances in the last two French Open finals the 25-year-old is now emerging as a contender for grass-court glory.
Soderling, who now bases himself in Monte Carlo, dropped just seven games in his first-round match against American Robby Ginepri and was almost just as clinical against Granollers.
"I think I served well the whole match," he said. "But it took it a while to get used to the returns because he served really well."
"But from the end of the first set and on, I think I returned really well."
Soderling suffered a dip in form prior to the French Open but recovered his best in Paris, ending Roger Federer's run of reaching 23 consecutive grand slam semi-finals, before losing in the final to Nadal.
Until last year his grand slam record was mediocre, but the run to his first Roland Garros semi-final sparked a run which saw him reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the US Open quarter-finals.
It was Granollers who ended Soderling's run of impressive results on the majors stage, posting a shock first-round win at the Australian Open, making Thursday's win all the more sweet.
Andy Murray was disappointed with his bow but little else as he showed the Queen exactly why he is one of the favourites to win the title this year.
The British No.1 gave an impressive display of all-court tennis as he dispatched Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6-3 6-4 6-2 in little over an hour and a half on Centre Court.
The match was given significant prestige by being the only one watched by the Queen on her visit to the All England Club.
Her last appearance in 1977 was to see Virginia Wade win Wimbledon, and there was little doubt she would witness another British victory from the moment Murray broke in the second