Marina Erakovic might have overcome the world's 219th-ranked player as well as poor light, the noise of trams, cars and spectators and even a huge number of bugs circling the court but she now faces the altogether more daunting task of overcoming Christina McHale in the second round of the Australian Open.
The Kiwi tennis No 1 beat French qualifier Irena Pavlovic 7-5 7-6(4) in one hour 56 minutes on one of the more undesirable back courts at Melbourne Park to progress to the second round of the year's first grand slam.
She will meet American McHale after the 19-year-old comfortably dispatched 24th seed Lucie Safarova from the Czech Republic 6-2 6-4.
McHale is a player on the rise and the youngest in the world's top 100. She had a very good 2011, when she rose from 115 to to 43 in the world on her first full year on the WTA Tour, and notched wins against the likes of Svetlana Kuznetsova, Marion Bartoli and, most notably, world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki.
Erakovic has never played McHale, who was easily beaten by Kuznetsova 6-1 6-1 in the second round of this month's ASB Classic in Auckland.