British number one Andy Murray brushed aside Italy's Andreas Seppi 6-1 6-4 to open his Aegon Championships campaign at Queen's Club with a victory.
The Scot justified his status as top seed as his serve pinned the world number 48 back in the opening set.
Seppi claimed his first break in the third game of a more even second set as he fought his way back into the match.
But a beautifully disguised forehand from Murray set up a decisive break in the final game and sealed his progress.
Seppi was victorious in the pair's only previous encounter on grass, but there seemed little chance of him repeating his 2006 success as he initially struggled with an off-kilter ball toss and tentative serve.
Murray was content to pick off his opponent from the baseline and had the 25-year-old on the run as soon as any rallies emerged.
But, after surrendering just two service points in the opener, the second set proved more testing for the world number three.
Seppi responded to losing an early break with one of his own as Murray's concentration waivered and he sent a forehand flopping into the net.
Murray pleased with transition to grass
The pair then traded solid service games, but Murray brought the encounter to an end inside an hour with a clinical step up in quality in the 17th game.
"The first set was very good - but I played one poor game to let him back in and after that he started playing better. It was tricky conditions - windy and very heavy - so it's good to come through in two sets," Murray told BBC Sport.
Murray will take one Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in Thursday's third round as he hunts a first major title on grass.
Garcia-Lopez saw off Luxembourg's Gilles Muller 7-6 6-3.
Australia's Lleyton Hewitt survived an early scare against Frederico Gil of Portugal, losing the first set but eventually winning 3-6 6-2 6-2.
Hewitt will play American Andy Roddick in the next round - both men having won the tournament four times.
Nicolas Mahut of France pulled off a shock by defeating Croatia's Marin Cilic 7-6 7-6.
His reward is a meeting with another Croat, Ivo Karlovic, who hit 33 aces on his way to a 7-6 (9-7) 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 win over France's Julien Benneteau.
Russian 14th seed Mikhail Youzhny ousted Marcos Baghdatis in a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) straight-sets win and will face France's Gilles Simon who beat promising Bulgarian teenager Grigor Dimitrov, 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5).
Former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero beat 11th-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-4 and will face qualifier Xavier Malisse after the Belgian's 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (10-8) win over Marat Safin's replacement Rik de Voest.
Meanwhile, unfancied British doubles pair Ken Skupski and Colin Fleming reached the last eight of the tournament with a shock win over world number one American brothers Mike and Bob Bryan - winning 6-4 6-4.
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