British number one Cameron Norrie secured a straight-set victory over Japan's Yosuke Watanuki to progress to the last 32 at the Madrid Open.
Watanuki is ranked 104 places below Norrie but came close to taking the Briton to a deciding set in Spain.
Earlier on Saturday fellow Briton Dan Evans was knocked out in straight sets by Spain's Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
The British number two lost 6-3 6-2 to the world number 42, who will face Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin in the next round.
Evans would have hoped to build on some of the momentum gathered at the Barcelona Open, where he reached the semi-final but was beaten in straight sets by top seed Carlos Alcaraz, 19.