Fresh from his Davis Cup heroics in Darwin with the Australian tennis team, Sam Groth is through to the next round of the ATP Tour's Claro Open in Bogota.
But it was not all smooth sailing for the tournament No.6 seed as he was taken to three sets by Argentina's Guido Pella, before advancing 7-5 4-6 7-5.
Groth, who is currently ranked 64 in the world, starred alongside Lleyton Hewitt to lead Australia to a stirring come-from-behind 3-2 win over Kazakhstan last week.
The 193cm-right hander served 26 aces, including 11 in the decisive third set, to set up a last 16 meeting with wildcard Radek Stepanek.
The New South Welshman's win in Bogota ended a poor run at the tournament for Australian players as Matthew Ebden and John Millman both lost their first round matches the day before.
Tournament eighth-seed James Ward was also a first-round casualty when he was knocked out by Germany's Michael Berrer.
The 28-year-old British No.3 fell to a 6-4 6-7 (7/9) 7-5 defeat in just under two hours.
Earlier, 2013 runner-up and home favourite Alejandro Falla was eliminated by American Rajeev Ram.
Ram, who won the Hall of Fame Championships last week, held on for a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory to set up a second-round clash with third-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
Teenage Colombian wildcard Daniel Elahi Galan made it through after he saw off Pere Riba of Spain with a hard-fought 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 win and now faces top seed Ivo Karlovic next.
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