A frustrated Guillermo Coria needed just 97 seconds on Thursday to reach the second round at Wimbledon, overcoming Wesley Moodie 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in a match which had spanned four days due to bad weather.
The French Open finalist had to play only two points against his South African opponent on the fourth day of the championships before finishing the contest which had started on Monday.
All England Club officials believe it is the first time a singles match had lasted four days at the grasscourt Grand Slam. Rain completely washed out play on Wednesday.
Third seed Coria's ordeal, which lasted three hours six minutes in actual court time, brought back memories of Tim Henman's three-day semi-final against eventual champion Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.
The Argentine had appeared to be extremely agitated on Tuesday when the umpire failed to call off his match sooner even though rain had stopped play on the outer courts.
Playing at 5-3 in the fifth set, Coria had fallen flat behind the baseline after slipping on a damp court one.
Coria expressed his annoyance to the officials as he limped back into the changing rooms clutching at his leg.
The result meant Coria, who had never won a tour-level match on grass before his run to the Ordina Open final last weekend, finally cracked his first-round jinx at Wimbledon on his third visit to the event.
He will next face Germany's Florian Mayer.
Andy Roddick also finally reached the second round two days after beginning his match against Taiwan's Yeu-Tzuoo Wang.
The second seed led 4-2 when play began at midday and his first point was an ace which set the tone for the match.
The U.S. Open champion overpowered qualifier Wang throughout to win the rain-interrupted contest 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.
Next up is lucky loser Alexander Peya of Austria.
"I felt it was tough out there," the American said. "The conditions, you know, the wind was swirling in there.
"I was not feeling comfortable out there. I got through it. You know, I feel like there's a lot of room for improvement from today.
"But I got through. That's the thing I was looking for."
The American said that winning the U.S. Open had made life easier for him at Grand Slams.
"It was huge. Now I bought myself some time so you guys can't get on me for another, what, slam or two at least," he joked with reporters.
"It was amazing. It was my ultimate dream in tennis. You know, I wanted to win the U.S. Open.
"To be able to achieve that ... I really proved something to myself. Going in as a favourite, then backing it up, you know, it was a big confidence builder for me.
