Struggling Novak Djokovic said he had taken encouragement from winning his first match on surviving his first grass court test ahead of his attempt to win Wimbledon for a fourth time.
The world No 4 defeated Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at Eastbourne in what is the first time he is playing a pre-Wimbledon tournament on grass since 2010.
The Serbian has had a poor year by his standards, having not won a tournament since the Qatar Open in January, and he failed to retain either his Australian Open or French Open titles as he fell down to No 4 in the ATP rankings, the lowest he has been since October 2009.
The three-time Wimbledon champion got onto court as first match on Wednesday after rain washed out Tuesday play - save one game in the Djokovic match - leaving organisers with a backlog to get through.
He claimed his fifth victory in as many attempts against Pospisil, who is now 4-22 lifetime against top 10 opponents.
"That was the first official grass court match for me this year," Djokovic said. "I'm glad that I came here to Eastbourne.
"I have had a great couple of days of training with good players, different styles of game.
"Yesterday it obviously wasn't really enjoyable to see the rain falling all day.
"But today we almost played a full match, so I'm glad for that. I felt good on the court, considering it's the first match.
"I played against an opponent that has a really good game for grass. Serves well, comes to the net, has a good variety.
"It was a really, really solid win. I'm happy with it."
Djokovic, who will be advised by Andre Agassi at Wimbledon, is the second-highest-ranked men's player to ever compete at the Aegon International behind then-number two Marcelo Rios in 1998.
* Agence France-Presse
