Carlos Alcaraz continued where he left off on the British grass by starting his Queen’s title defence with a straight-set victory over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.
The 21-year-old Spaniard won 6-1 7-5 in his first match on grass since lifting the Wimbledon title last year.
Alcaraz won the third major of his career on the French Open clay earlier this month, before switching back to the surface where he has played the least.
It looked a comfortable transition initially, but he ran into difficulty in his first-round match against 26th-ranked Cerundolo.
But the world number two recovered to earn his 12th straight win on a grass court.
Alcaraz dropped just 14 points in a one-sided first set before fighting back from a break down at 5-2 in the second.
Cerundolo could not serve out at 5-3 and had three set points at 5-4.
But he struck two backhands into the net, either side of Alcaraz saving the second with an ace, as the Spaniard escaped to hold for 5-5.
That proved costly as Alcaraz broke for 6-5 and served out to love.
Alcaraz will play either new British number one Jack Draper or Argentina’s Mariano Navone in the second round.