Roger Federer conceded that at one point he was in 'disarray' during a dramatic victory over Alejandro Falla which saw the defending Wimbledon champion flirt with disaster.
World No.60 Falla took the opening two sets and then secured three break points to put himself in position to serve for the match, before eventually succumbing 5-7 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1) 6-0.
Federer identified the ninth game of the third set, when he was down 0-40, as the point when his title defence was in greatest danger.
"That was the moment I felt was the toughest because if I wouldn't have come out of that game, I don't think I would have broken the next one," said the top seed.
"My whole game was sort of in disarray. I was just hoping that I could get three quick serves to come back."
"But I had to come up with some passing shots, some scrambling shots."
"There was definitely a bit of luck involved there. It's normal with the chances he had, the way I came out of this match."
"I definitely got lucky but that's how it goes sometimes."
Colombian Falla was facing Federer for the third successive tournament.
"Everybody wants to play Federer, but three times in one month is a lot," he said.
"I knew I was playing very well, I just wanted to go out and play my best. I am happy because I played a great match."
Andy Roddick was in imperious form as he swept aside compatriot Rajeev Ram 6-3 6-2 6-2 in an all-American showdown on Court One.
"That was pretty solid all around. I served good percentages and returned well," said the fifth seed.
"It was probably a little more straightforward than I thought it might be, so it's a good start."
Croatian seeds Marin Cilic and Ivan Ljubicic both suffered first-round defeats.
Cilic, the 11th seed, lost 6-2 6-4 7-6 (7-1) to Germany's Florian Mayer while Michal Przysiezny of Poland dispatched 17th seed Ljubicic 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
In a marathon match on Court One, seventh seed Nikolay Davydenko took four and a quarter hours to see off South African Kevin Anderson 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 9-7.
Dustin Brown endured a 6-3 4-6 6-2 6-3 defeat by Austrian 16th seed Jurgen Melzer on his grand slam debut and then told the Lawn Tennis Association it must take the initiative if it wants him to represent Great Britain's Davis Cup team.
The world No.105 from Jamaica qualifies for Britain through a grandmother on his father's side and is open to changing his allegiance.
"Something has to happen from the LTA. If they're interested, then they have to step towards me," he said.
"If the LTA would step towards me and offer me things that would help me improve my game then obviously that's one of the things I would have to look at."
Spanish 22nd seed Feliciano Lopez beat Jesse Levine of the USA 7-6 3-6 6-2 6-3 to march into the second round.
Rainer Schuettler of Germany made light of Russian Dmitry Tursunov with a 6-2 6-2 6-3 win on Court 11.
There were also wins for American Mardy Fish over Australian youngster Bernard Tomic, French 21st seed Gael Monfils and Czech 12th seed Tomas Berdych.
Novak Djokovic scraped his way into round two with a five-set win over Olivier Rochus in a late-night thriller on Centre Court.
The third seed looked on his way out when