British round-up Lee Childs completed an amazing comeback to beat in-form Russian Nickolay Davydenko 2-6 7-6 1-6 7-6 6-2 in the first round. The 21-year-old Briton looked to be heading for a swift exit from the All England Club as Davydenko swept to the first set in just 37 minutes.
Childs was facing a tough challenge against a player 452 places above him in the world rankings, but he forced the tie-break in the second.
A packed crowd on court 13 helped lift the Somerset player and he got back on level terms.
It looked to be business as usual for Davydenko as he raced to take the third set with the big-serving Childs unable to hold.
But the British wildcard refused to fold and took the match into a decider, saving his best tennis for the tie-breaks.
Childs found his rhythm with some powerful forehands and comfortably clinched the fifth, though he sealed the match with a lucky net cord.
Davydenko, who has already strolled to two titles this season, has yet to break his duck on grass.
Childs now faces Spain's Rafael Nadal who strolled to a surprise win over Croatia's Mario Ancic.
But there was no luck for Scotland's Alan Mackin who lost out 6-2 6-4 6-2 to Brazil's Flavio Saretta.
Arvind Parmar also went out after a 6-3 6-4 6-1 defeat to eighth seed Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands.
British women's number one Anne Keothavong, who has struggled with a wrist injury in recent weeks, was trailing 6-2 4-0 to Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia when she retired.
Another British loser was wildcard entrant Lucie Ahl, who went down 6-3 4-6 4-6 against Japan's 13th seed Ai Sugiyama.
Jamie Delgado takes on favourite and world number one Andre Agassi on Centre Court on Tuesday.
Elena Baltacha, the British number two, also faces a daunting task against 11th seed Jelena Dokic, while Alex Bogdanovic, Martin Lee, Richard Bloomfield and Mark Hilton are also in action on Tuesday, along with Julie Pullin and Jane O'Donoghue.