Tim Henman began his grasscourt season with a win but needed three sets to see off American Robby Ginepri in the Stella Artois Championships at Queen's. Henman broke early in the match but then conceded his own serve before clinching the first set on a tiebreak.
A break at 3-3 gave Ginepri the second set but Henman broke twice in the decider for a 7-6 (7/5) 4-6 6-1 win.
Joining Henman in the third round is top seed Lleyton Hewitt who edged out Xavier Malisse 6-7 (3/7) 7-5 7-5.
Henman looked a little rusty but performed encouragingly on his first match of the year on his favourite surface.
 |  The first match on grass is never easy and I was really pleased with the way I got through it |
The 30-year-old made an early break but allowed Ginepri to break back and it was the American who had the better chances in the tiebreak.
However, the Briton's greater experience proved decisive and he took the tiebreak with his first set point.
Third seed Henman had a golden chance to break early in the second set but netted a bread-and-butter overhead to allow Ginepri a reprieve.
And the American then broke himself and held on to force a deciding set.
Henman then stepped up a level, winning 11 points in a row to take command and went on to win the match and clinch a place in the third round.
There he will meet either Australian Chris Guccione or Igor Andreev of Russia.
"The first match on grass is never easy and I was really pleased with the way I got through it," Henman told BBC Sport.
"There are plenty of things to work on but I feel pretty good about my game at this stage."
 Hewitt had a hard-fought battle with Xavier Malisse |
Three-time former champion Hewitt was playing his first match since March and struggled for top form.
However, the Australian stepped up his game to break at 5-5 in the decider.
He told BBC Sport: "I knew it would be tough against Xavier - he's better than his ranking suggests. I just had to get a few cobwebs out."
Mark Philippoussis recorded only his fourth win since last year's Wimbledon as he beat Raemon Sluiter 6-4 6-0 to reach the second round.
The injury-plagued Australian, whose ranking has dropped to 198th in the world, will meet defending champion Andy Roddick in the second round.
"All I want is a chance to play without something happening," he said.
British wildcard Jamie Delgado caused a surprise when he beat promising French teenager Gael Monfils 6-2 6-4.
Delgado will face another French teenager in the second round after Richard Gasquet's 6-1 7-6 (7/3) win over Janko Tipsarevic.
Russia's Dmitry Tursunov defeated Swede Jonas Bjorkman 7-5 6-3 to book a meeting with British number two Greg Rusedski.
And big-serving ninth seed Taylor Dent brushed aside Germany's Tomas Behrend 6-4 6-3 and will next face British teenager Andy Murray.
MMIX
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