Novak Djokovic walked onto Centre Court facing a battle not just with Stefanos Tsitsipas but potentially the Wimbledon curfew too.
The pair did not get underway until almost 8pm, leaving them around three hours to reach a conclusion or risk coming back on Thursday.
Djokovic needed longer than that to labour to a first-round win but there were no such concerns here.
The 39-year-old, as it turned out, would have an hour and a half still in hand by the time he had dispatched Tsitsipas and sent a major statement to the rest of the draw.
This was the best performance of the Championships so far. It is as good as Djokovic has looked in a long time too. A 6-3 6-4 6-2 win to reach the third round suggested he is firmly in the fight for a 25th Grand Slam title. He will face big-serving Arthur Rinderknech next.
Djokovic's demeanour was a sign of just how good he was feeling. After the match, he challenged Rory McIlroy to a tennis match for the Green Jacket he was wearing in the Royal Box.
Even during proceedings, Djokovic was relaxed enough to tease a ballgirl. As she removed something from his shirt with scissors, he jumped as though he had been cut, breaking into a laugh as she backed away in concern.
"I guess these kinds of things surface when you are two sets to love up rather than two sets to love down," Djokovic said in his on-court interview.
"But Stefanos went to change and I had some spare time! I don't know if she's still around, but I'm sorry if I scared her.
"It wasn't that great of a joke I guess, but it made me a bit more relaxed on the court. I was just having some fun."
This was a remarkably clean display from Djokovic. In all there were 33 winners to go with just seven unforced errors.
Tsitsipas was too often a generous opponent, his backhand once again a weakness, and Djokovic ruthlessly exploited it.
The Greek gifted a break in the first set to trail 3-1 with a succession of mistakes. Tsitsipas had three break points in the very next game to respond but Djokovic saved all of them.
Those were the last break points Tsitsipas would get until the very last game of the match.
Djokovic cruised through the remainder of the set to take it in 27 minutes and from there the result was never in any doubt.
Eight rapid holds were exchanged in the second set as a tie-break increasingly came into view, but Tsitsipas then stumbled at the worst possible time.
Another poor groundstroke gave Djokovic a break point at 4-4 and he took it after a brilliant exchange. As became a theme, Tsitsipas could not put away the overhead and Djokovic scrambled in defence behind the baseline. He clawed his way back into the point and pounced to break.
Djokovic held to love to take a two-set lead. Tsitsipas went off court to gather his thoughts, as Djokovic filled the time by pranking the ballgirl.
He then broke in the fifth game of the third set to motor towards victory. Tsitsipas became increasingly ragged, one forehand so wild that the umpire was forced into a drastic swerve to avoid it.
At 4-2 up, Djokovic then produced what he described afterwards as "one of the best return games I've played in a while".
This was all the hits wrapped up in a glorious few minutes. He read another Tsitsipas overhead to win the point. A perfect drop shot followed, before he slid along the baseline to dispatch a sublime return winner crosscourt.
That brought up three break points, the second of which was taken with a lob that left Tsitsipas staring helplessly towards the roof.
Djokovic got a standing ovation from the crowd on his way back to his chair for the changeover. Serving for the match, he was briefly brought back down to earth as a double fault and two loose shots gave Tsitsipas two break points.
Neither was taken. Djokovic staved off that danger and brought up match point. Tsitsipas went long and the mauling was complete.
