Andy Roddick won the shootout between former champions when he squeezed past Lleyton Hewitt 7-6, 7-6 to reach the quarter-finals at Queen's Club on Thursday.
Britain's Andy Murray lived up to his top billing at the traditional warm-up event for Wimbledon when he produced a devastating display of speed and power to beat Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 6-4.
The anticipated showdown between second seed Roddick and Hewitt, two former world number ones, was delayed by 10 minutes following a hoax bomb threat at the complex.
Both players, who have each won four singles titles at the west London club, stayed on court during the hold up and were seen exchanging friendly banter across the net.
Once play began, they dropped the laughter and stood toe-to-toe. With no quarter given, neither earned a break point and the contest headed into a tiebreak.
Roddick came into his own in the breaker with his thunderbolt deliveries helping him on his way. A dispute over a Hawkeye call refused to throw him off track and he clinched it 7-2 with a forehand winner.
The second set was almost a replay of the first and Roddick settled the score 7-4 in the tiebreak with his 18th ace.
"He's had just as much success as I've had... and knows how to use this surface to his advantage so well," said Roddick.
"I wasn't feeling comfortable but had a little more success in the tiebreaks."
The American is not expected it any easier in his next match since he will face another big server in Croatian Ivo Karlovic.
"A lot of the points tomorrow will probably be like watching paint dry for the both of us.
"Against Ivo there's so much that's out of your control. A guy serves huge from 6'10," a lot of times you're going to be walking side by side spectating."
Roddick's potential final opponent Murray made his intensions clear when he began his account with three aces and never allowed Garcia-Lopez get close to a break point.
In fact, the only problem the top seed faced was when he suffered a small gash in his right hand during the match but dismissed it saying: "It's fine, it's just a little cut."
Murray broke Garcia-Lopez for 5-4 in the first set with a whipped forehand crosscourt winner and kept up the momentum in the second.
The 52nd-ranked Spaniard was broken to love in the fifth game of the second and never recovered from the setback. He bowed out after slapping a service return into the tramlines.
"Today was good, I felt more comfortable today than in my first match," Murray, who will next face American eighth seed Mardy Fish, said courtside.
At number three Frenchman Gilles Simon became the highest seed to fall. He was beaten 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 by Russia's Mikhail Youzhny.
Former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero appears to be enjoying his time out on grass and overcame 2002 Wimbledon semi-finalist Xavier Malisse 6-4, 7-6.