Three-time former champion Andy Roddick put the dark days of clay behind him on Tuesday to record a confident 6-4, 6-4 second-round victory over Radek Stepanek on the grass at Queen's.
The American second seed, ignominiously defeated in the first round of the French Open two weeks ago, delighted in the speed of the slick surface, hammering down 12 aces.
Stepanek, no slouch himself on grass having reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last year, tried to serve and volley but often found himself stranded at the net by some fine Roddick passes.
Top seed Rafael Nadal, who like Roddick enjoyed a bye to the second round, had his first taste of grass, playing doubles with fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. They lost 6-3, 7-6 to Jeff Coetzee and Rogier Wassen.
Britain's Tim Henman, three times a finalist and at 32 playing his 14th Queen's tournament, failed to ignite the crowd, bowing out 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 in the first round to another 18-year-old, Croatian wildcard Marin Cilic.
Croat Ivan Ljubicic, 28, scored a 6-3, 6-4 second-round victory over Danai Udomchoke of Thailand.
France's exciting 20-year-old Gael Monfils also looked secure and at ease on the Centre Court lawns. He beat Russian Igor Andreev, the man who ousted Roddick in Paris, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.

Davydenko wins
Top-seed Nikolay Davydenko made the second round of the ATP tournament here but admitted he was worried about an eye injury he suffered in his win over Austrian Jurgen Melzer, adds AFP from Halle, Germany.
After world number one Roger Federer withdrew from Halle,  Davydenko is now favourite to pick up the winner’s cheque of 96,000 euros - providing his eye recovers. The 26-year-old, ranked third in the world, was hit just below his left eye and needed attention from the doctor just before he won the final game to seal his 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 6-2 victory over the Austrian, ranked 28 places below him.
There was an upset when Argentinian seventh-seed David Nalbandian was handed a first-round exit by Frenchman Marc Gicquel, who was playing only his fourth game on grass. The 30-year-old’s 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win puts him into the second-round, where he will play German Benjamin Becker.
The biggest shock of the first round was when French number one and fifth-seed Richard Gasquet was beaten by Pakistani qualifier Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. The 27-year-old from Lahore beat Gasquet in straight sets, knocking out the 20-year-old who is ranked 11th in the world, 293 places higher than Qureshi.
In the day’s other early games, Frenchman Fabrice Santoro ranked 53rd in the world, eased into the second round with a 6-3, 7-6 (11/9) win over South African qualifier Wesley Moodie.
German qualifier Simon Stadler beat wild-card compatriot Mischa Zverev in straight-sets 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) and will face sixth-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the second round.
Federer’s eleventh-hour replacement Romanian Andrei Pavel made it into the second round after beating Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) and will face Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen next.

Paes-Damm advance
Meanwhile, Leander Paes and his Czech partner Martin Damm registered a facile win to sail into the second round of the Gerry Webber Open, adds PTI from New Delhi.
The Indo-Czech duo scored a 6-4, 6-2 win over the Swiss-German pair of Yves Allegro and Michael Kohlmann in their opening round on Tuesday. Paes and Damm were ousted in the second round of the French Open Grand Slam in Paris.