Andre Agassi prolonged his Wimbledon farewell on Tuesday after recovering from a poor start to beat Boris Pashanski 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.
The ever popular 36-year-old Las Vegan, who announced last week that he would end his glittering career after this year's US Open, looked rusty on Centre Court before finding his range to stay on course for a third-round clash with Rafael Nadal.
Nadal found his feet on grass to tame British wildcard Alex Bogdanovic 6-4, 7-6 ,6-4 in the first round at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The second seed would like nothing more than to become the first Spaniard to win the men's title since 1966 and began his campaign with a typically bullish display.
Eight-times Grand Slam champion Agassi said he feared an undignified exit from a tournament he has grown to love since winning the title in 1992.
"I think I was a bit lost out there in the first set," he told reporters. "I think I was a bit too nervous.
"But then I settled in and managed to find a little bit of rhythm, making it a lot better from there. That's what I tried to focus on. But it was comfortable in the end."
Coming into his first Wimbledon for three years he had played only eight matches on tour this season and Serb Pashanski, a debutant at the grasscourt grand slam, took advantage of Agassi's lack of sharpness to win the first set in 32 minutes.
The world number 71 then had an opportunity to break early in the second set but crucially let the 25th seed off the hook.
"You feel like there's this critical point where if you don't do something, it's going to become sort of desperation," Agassi, who has needed cortisone injections to cope with a debilitating back problem, said.
"To be down a set, to be facing break point at 0-1 in the second, the match is really quickly going to get away from you.
"So when I settled in the second set, I relaxed a lot. But I was a bit uptight. I went from nervous to slightly embarrassed to digging in and getting more comfortable as it went on."
Once Agassi began to dictate the rallies Pashanski's game crumbled and the match quickly turned around.
He showed flashes of his best to win the next two sets and Pashanski buckled at 3-3 in the fourth to hand his opponent the decisive service break.
The Serbian then ended the match with two consecutive double faults, prompting Agassi's familiar bow to all four corners of the world's most famous court.
Nadal appeared to enjoy his outing on court one even though he was playing his first match since quitting the Stella Artois quarter-finals two weeks ago with a shoulder injury.
The 135th-ranked Bogdanovic kept pace with Nadal until 4-4 in the first set, when the Spaniard unleashed a scorching backhand winner to break the deadlock and celebrated it by letting out a roar of delight.
Bogdanovic refused to be overawed by the occasion or his opponent in the second set and rallied from 4-2 down to level at 5-5.
But Nadal, who won his second successive title at Roland Garros earlier this month to chalk up a 60-match unbeaten streak on clay, was not in a mood to prolong his stay under fading light and captured the tiebreak 7-3.
The Mallorcan with bulging biceps showed his willingness to approach the net and completed victory in one hour 49 minutes with a forehand volley.
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