Seven-time winner Novak Djokovic and defending champion Jannik Sinner both came through first-round scares to progress at Wimbledon on a day where 10 Brits were sent tumbling.
Djokovic needed three hours and 12 minutes to eventually see off a battling Yibing Wu to complete a 4-6 7-5 4-6 4-6 triumph.
The roof was closed at the end of the second set which China's Wu won, and upon the resumption it was the world No 99 who initially handled the change in conditions better.
The crowd were in full support of the underdog which appeared to get under the skin of Djokovic, who is chasing a record 25th Grand Slam title in west London.
Djokovic broke his battling opponent in the ninth game of the third set and put a finger behind his ear as tensions continued to rise on Centre Court.
The 39-year-old was showing signs of fatigue in the fourth set and spent time between serves and points stretching and flexing his joints. At one point he even smacked his hips with his racket as he attempted to draw on the energy to get him over the line.
Djokovic continued to huff and puff in the fourth set and got a crucial break in the ninth game to move one game from victory.
And he didn't waste the opportunity on serve as he held to love to maintain his record of never losing in the opening round of Wimbledon.
Jannik Sinner staved off a potential upset by beating unheralded Miomir Kecmanovic, though it took the defending champion five sets to win his first match at Wimbledon this year.
He came back to defeat the Serbian 4-6 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-3.
World No 1 and reigning champion Sinner was given a warning shot when Kecmanovic won their first set.
Sinner seemed to be steadying himself when he won the second set, only to drop another set before ultimately pulling away.
He took a nasty fall in the third set before going into the tiebreak. He slipped to the ground with his knee seemingly twisted inwards beneath. Sinner initially howled with pain but he rose and didn't seek a medical time out.
Kecmanovic impressively won the third set tiebreak.
The Italian however restored his composure and, even as he appeared to be bleeding from the foot, took over in fine style securing the next two sets to get his championship defence up and running.
All 10 home players who completed their matches on Monday added to the gloom of Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu pulling out injured.
It could have been even worse but Jack Pinnington Jones was spared by bad light against Brandon Nakashima at two sets down and will have to finish his opener on Tuesday.
The tally of losses is the worst for the home nation since daily records began in 2000, while there is a possibility the record of 16 first-round defeats could be exceeded when the remaining players take to the court on Tuesday.
Fran Jones, who became the final faller when she lost 6-4 6-4 to France's Diane Parry, said: "It will create bad headlines, probably slightly unfairly. I think, with some of the draws that people are handed, it was always going to be difficult.
"But no one can hide from the heaviness of Wimbledon. It's important to everyone, and I'm sure it played a factor being at the home slam."
The Lawn Tennis Association can justifiably point to the fact the draws were particularly unkind this year, with only Cameron Norrie facing a player ranked lower than him.
The British No 1's defeat by American Michael Zheng was undoubtedly the most disappointing of the day, although the qualifier played a terrific match to win in a fifth-set tie-break.
Harriet Dart was close to pulling off a sizeable upset against former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, eventually losing out 6-3 3-6 6-4.
Qualifier Oliver Tarvet, who lost in the second round to Carlos Alcaraz last year, also played at a high level in a four-hour battle against 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech but was unable to force a deciding set.
Britain's teenage trio of Mimi Xu, Hannah Klugman and Mika Stojsavljevic were also among the losers after being handed very difficult draws.
Elsewhere, wild card Felix Gill was beaten by rising Spanish star Rafael Jodar while fellow debutants Alicia Dudeney and Max Basing also lost
Aryna Sabalenka gave herself an "eight out of 10" rating after easing past qualifier Teodora Kostovic in straight sets.
The world No 1 is yet to add Wimbledon to her list of Grand Slam titles but coasted to a 6-2 6-3 victory in 65 minutes.
"I have to say, for the first match, I feel pretty good," said Sabalenka. "I rate myself eight out of 10."
The 28-year-old's on-court entrance has become part of the show, and Naomi Osaka turned to her heritage for her latest look, walking on to Court Three in an .
French Open runner-up Maja Chwalinska crashed out of Wimbledon in the opening round following a 2-6 7-5 6-2 loss to Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew after the Pole fell and hurt herself while on match point.
"I fell and I felt my ankle. I wanted to continue, but I didn't feel comfortable moving, so I wanted to tape it, but I'd lose the point anyway, it doesn't matter if I fell or not," Chwalinska told reporters.
"It definitely didn't help me later, but it is what it is."
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