Argentine Juan Martin del Potro broke his hoodoo against Radek Stepanek at the ATP BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Friday.
The 2009 US Open champion had lost both of his previous clashes with the Croatian but showed glimpses of his best in the 6-4 6-0 first-round victory.
Del Potro, who dropped to 90th in the world rankings after a wrist injury sidelined him for the majority of 2010, was particularly impressive on his forehands.
"I broke his serve very soon and took confidence with my serve," del Potro said.
"That helped my whole game, and with my forehand especially. I played a good match."
Del Potro will now face Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, who is the defending champion of the event after surprising Andy Roddick in last year's final.
In other first-round clashes, Belgian Xavier Malisse thumped Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla 6-1 6-4 while Janko Tipsarevic also won in straight sets, easing to a 6-2 6-0 triumph over German Tobias Kamke 6-2 6-0.
Ivo Karlovic did not have it easy against Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic, winning 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 and American Donald Young had to also do it in three, edging Italian Potito Starace 2-6 6-3 6-3.
Romanian Victor Hanescu, Finn Jarko Nieminen and American qualifier Michael Russell all had to fight back from a set behind, Hanescu beating Italian Andreas Seppi 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-3, Nieminen defeated Denis Istomin 2-6 7-5 7-5 and Russell toppling Kevin Anderson 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-4.
Michael Berrer defeated Bjorn Phau 6-4 4-6 6-4 while his German compatriot Mischa Zverev also had a victory, defeating Australian Matthew Ebden 6-4 6-3.
Rainer Schuettler was another German winner, defeating the Netherlands' Robin Haase 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 while Lithuianian Richard Berankis made tough work of his 1-6 6-3 6-4 win against Alex Bogomolov Jr.
Qualifier Ryan Sweeting defeated Marcel Granollers 6-4 6-1 and another qualifier, Somdev Devvarman also triumphed, with the Indian defeating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-2 6-3 in straight sets.
American Tim Smyczek defeated the Ukraine's Ilya Marchenko 2-6 6-3 6-2 while South African Rik De Voest won by retirement, after he won the first set against Spaniard Pere Riba 6-4 before he retired.