Tim Henman put injury behind him to carve out a 7-5, 6-4 first-round victory over Germany's Nicolas Kiefer at the World Indoor Tournament on Tuesday.
Argentine David Nalbandian's gamble to hone his skills on the indoor circuit backfired, however, when he lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to Czech Radek Stepanek.
Henman arrived in Rotterdam after being sidelined with a chronic back problem since his third-round defeat at last month's Australian Open.
The Briton, however, unleashed his full serve and volley repertoire to leave Kiefer frustrated in a high-quality contest.
"I really struggled in December and couldn't do the training I would have liked to have done but I feel this is really the start of my season as I was able to play almost pain free for the first time this year," said Henman.
"I'm very pleased with the result today because in a tournament like this, the quality of field is so high that you need to be ready from point one and I just happened to play the quality shots at the right time."
Although it took Henman six points to register on the scoreboard, he kept a firm grip on the match by never allowing his opponent to reach break point.
The 24th-ranked Kiefer saved the first break point in the match in the 11th game with a scorching cross court shot but surrendered his serve two points later when Henman produced a copy-cat winner.
The third seed, who in the absence of any previous winners has the best record in the field after three runner-up finishes, wasted his first set point with a double fault before firing an unreturnable volley.
The second set followed a similar pattern before a fist-pumping Henman broke the deadlock in the ninth game on his only break point.
A dipping forehand shot handed Henman his seventh win in 10 meetings with Kiefer.
Earlier, Nalbandian should have felt at home on the quick surface, having claimed one of his two career titles indoors, but he was outplayed by an opponent prepared to take risks.
"Nobody wants to lose and I'm really upset," said the fourth seed. "I made silly mistakes and my concentration just went away and that let me down."
Stepanek left Nalbandian reeling with his attacking tactics, claiming the first set by forcing the 2002 Wimbledon finalist to slap a backhand into the net on break point.
Although Nalbandian staged a comeback in the second set, his game fell apart in the decider.
A spectacular lob gave Stepanek a 4-0 cushion and three games later the Czech booked a second-round match against Juan Carlos Ferrero with his 21st ace.
