Novak Djokovic claimed his 850th tour-level win by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach the third round of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
Djokovic edged out his German rival 6-3 4-6 6-4 in two hours and 36 minutes to maintain hopes of matching Rafael Nadal's record haul of 33 Masters 1000 titles.
The world number one's emotions threatened to boil over at times, but the Serb composed himself himself in the third set to set up a last-16 date with Taylor Fritz or Diego Schwartzman.
American Fritz, who was making his Monte Carlo debut, ended a run of four successive first-round defeats when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withdrew with a back problem.
Fritz was leading 6-4 2-0 when Tsonga retired, a blow for the Frenchman as he returns from 2018 knee surgery.
Lorenzo Sonego, Borna Coric and Guido Pella booked third round spots, the latter beating former US Open champion Marin Cilic 6-3 5-7 6-1.
Marco Cecchinato recovered from a dreadful start to move into the last 16 with a 0-6 7-5 6-3 comeback victory over Stan Wawrinka.
Cameron Norrie beat France's Adrian Mannarino 6-4 6-3 to progress into the second round.
The British number two will meet Hungary's Marton Fucsovics next.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Gilles Simon and Felix Auger-Aliassime also won their first-round matches.
Eleven-time champion Rafael Nadal, who had a first-round bye, begins his title defence against fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut on Wednesday.
