World number four Andy Murray drew Britain level with Austria in their Davis Cup tie after cruising to a 6-4 6-1 6-3 win over Alex Peya.
British number one Murray broke the Austrian in the first game and looked at ease adjusting to the demands of grass after the hard court season.
World number 164 Peya took only one game off the Scot in the second set, though he did break in the third.
But the US Open finalist broke twice himself as he closed it out with ease.
Britain and Austria are now one rubber a piece after Alex Bogdanovic had failed to maintain a promising start as Jurgen Melzer won the opening match 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 6-1 earlier on Friday.
But Murray, inevitably confident after reaching his first ever Grand Slam final in New York earlier this month, was never in danger of losing.
"It was good," he said. "He competed well and fought the whole match but it felt pretty comfortable.
"I knew that I was expected to win this match so I wanted to get off to a quick start.
"As the match went on, I felt I was moving a lot better. You don't want to get behind on grass as it's tough to break serve."
The only blip for Murray throughout the match came when Peya broke his serve in the third set, but the Scot was already a break up having combined a dextrous lob with a powerful forehand to move 4-2 up.
But a Peya comeback was immediately snuffed out as Murray regained the break advantage immediately with a powerful back-hand drive.
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But the 21-year-old, who pulled out of February's Davis Cup tie in Argentina because he did not want to risk injuring his knee, adjusted with little difficulty.
Defeat for Britain against Austria would mean missing out on the elite 16-team World Group in 2008.
It is likely that world number four Murray will have to win his next singles match, against Bogdanovic ‘s conqueror Melzer, if John Lloyd's Great Britain team are to defeat Austria.
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