You could forgive Casper Ruud if his heart was not absolutely singing at the prospect of a return to the Wimbledon lawns.

Despite the serve which makes the Norwegian a natural fast court player, he hasn’t found the greensward to be his best mate before now.

Both his previous visits to the All England Club juddered to a halt at the earliest possible stage, while only the other week British sensation Ryan Peniston bundled him to the exit in the opener at Queen’s, belying Ruud’s No.1 seeding there.

But maybe the Norwegian likes the lawns just the teensiest bit more after the first day of The Championships 2022.

At last he was able to earn a place in the second round, via a hard-earned rain-interrupted defeat of Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(1), 7-6(9), 6-2 – the first time in four attempts that Ruud has got past a southpaw at a Grand Slam to boot.

It cannot be said this Court 12 battle of the forehands was a carefree stroll for Ruud, especially in the first set. Toiling away largely from the baseline, the No.3 seed found cheap points near-impossible to come by.

But he dutifully applied himself to the task, armed with the confidence of his newfound status as a Grand Slam runner-up, courtesy of his excellent run to the final at Roland-Garros.

Ramos Vinolas, you will remember, had his own platform to make headlines in Paris, holding match point over his compatriot niño maravilla (that’s boy wonder, to the Spanish) Carlos Alcaraz in the second round.

But he couldn’t convert it, and he came into this Wimbledon opener hefting even unhappier grass court baggage than Ruud – on a four-match losing streak in SW19, and a six-match losing streak on grass dating back five years.

That wasn’t even the worst of it – the last 13 times the Spaniard had faced a seed in a Slam, he emerged with a total win rate of zero.

Whose frustration would be allayed? It was hard to be certain at times. The opening set developed into trench warfare amid unhelpful conditions, with a blustery wind prefacing a 90-minute rain delay. In the eventual tie-break Ramos-Vinolas had a rotten time of it and Ruud made hay.

It looked as if the Norwegian was steadily building on that foundation as he served for the second set, yet that was precisely the moment all his uncertainty on grass came crowding back.

Suddenly the somewhat dour contest crackled with more drama than your average soap opera, as the Spaniard’s punishing forehand carved a path to another tie-break.

Ramos Vinolas was utterly in command with four set points at his disposal, yet Ruud salvaged the lot.

When the world No.39’s fifth opportunity saw a Ruud strike called out, the Norwegian’s last-ditch challenge revealed the ball had clipped the line.

Thus saved, Ruud did not allow the opportunity to pass, and a further soggy intervention by the British weather gave Ramos-Vinolas 78 minutes to brood on his two-set deficit.

Ruud embarked on the third chapter having shed his signature headband. Perhaps the idea was to imply this match would soon be concluded entirely without perspiration, and he wasn’t far wrong.

He duly broke for 3-1 and made it a double break to get the job done on his first match point.

The crowd saw Ruud off the court in the cheerful manner they had first greeted him – with that apparent low booing sound which is actually the in-joke way of calling his name in support (“Roood”).

He grinned in response, with very good reason. At last, the Norwegian has something to smile about at Wimbledon.

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