Even though Novak Djokovic was nursing a dodgy right knee, toppling him at Wimbledon was never going to be easy for a player ranked 277th and so it proved to be as the Serb reached the third round with a 6-3 6-4 5-7 7-5 win over Jacob Fearnley.
The British wildcard, who was ranked outside the world's top 500 just a month ago before shooting up almost 250 spots after winning a second tier Challenger event in Nottingham, will take away many memorable moments from his Centre Court debut.
He is unlikely to forget the high-risk, high-reward strategy he employed in the final game of the third set, which ended with Djokovic hacking a forehand wide to surrender his serve and the set - to the delight of the crowd.
But all the heroics from a journeyman Scot, who until this week had never won a main tour match or even competed at a Grand Slam, were simply not enough to tame a player chasing a record-extending 372nd Grand Slam match win.
A forehand winner sealed Djokovic his passage into round three and kept him on course to win a record 25th Grand Slam title.
Elsewhere, Bulgarian 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov came back from two sets down to defeat China's Shang Juncheng 5-7 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2 6-4, while American 14th seed Ben Shelton overcame South Africa's Lloyd Harris 4-6 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 6-3 7-6(7).
In the women's competition, Harriet Dart upset 32nd seed Katie Boulter 4-6 6-1 7-6(8) in an all-British clash on Court One, Russian 17th seed Anna Kalinskaya eased past Czech Marie Bouzkova 6-4 6-1, and China's Wang Xinyu knocked out American fifth seed Jessica Pegula with a 6-4 6-7(7) 6-1 victory to reach the third round.
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