Wimbledon: Britain can breathe again after Andy Murray recorded a straight sets win over Fabrice Santoro in his first Wimbledon match in two years.
The British number one is through to face Belgium's Xavier Malisse after a 6-3 6-4 7-6 win over the veteran Frenchman on Centre Court.
It was a fine start for the 22-year-old Scot, who missed last year's tournament with a wrist injury and who has yet to go beyond the fourth round at the All England Club.
Murray broke serve in the third game with a precise lobbed winner as he swapped delicate groundstrokes with the 35-year-old Frenchman, who Pete Sampras once dubbed 'The Magician' and who was playing for the first time on Centre Court.
Santoro broke back in the sixth game when Murray netted a tame drop shot but the pivotal break came in the next game, which went to five deuces before Murray produced the crucial crosscourt winner.
Murray followed that up with his third break to take the set 6-3.
His serve was broken in the first game of the second set when Santoro tracked down a lob and produced a brilliant backhand, down-the-line winner.
The games were punctuated with long and cagey rallies, with Santoro utilising his command of slice to offset Murray's superior power.
Murray finally retrieved the break, however, in the eighth game, again a backhand winner proving the key shot for the Scot.
He then took the set 6-4 when he broke Santoro's serve once more with a precision lob to take control of the match at two sets to love.
Even in the third set, Santoro, enjoying his final hurrah in the late afternoon sunshine, proved a tough and frustrating opponent to put away.
Murray signalled his intentions to finish the job with a 134mph ace in the seventh game and a punishing drop shot in the ninth which left Santoro gasping.
But the Frenchman, outfoxing Murray on several occasions, battled to take the set into a tie-break.
Murray, however, helped by the luckiest of net cords, finally wrapped it up with a backhand down the line to win the breaker to take the set and the match and earn a meeting with Malisse.