With somewhat of a siege mentality but happy vibes too, defending champion Madison Keys has led a swathe of women's heavyweights into the Australian Open third round in Melbourne.
Keys withstood a fierce second-set fightback from Ashlyn Krueger to prevail 6-1 7-5 over her fellow American and extend her Open winning streak to nine matches.
World No.2 Iga Swiatek, former finalist Elena Rybakina and Keys' fellow seeded American guns Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula also moved into the last 32 on a star-studded day five at Melbourne Park.
"I started really well and I think Ashlyn started a little bit slow," Keys said after surviving a small scare.
"And then I was fully expecting her to raise her level, which she did.
"Then once I got that momentum, I just tried to sink my teeth into the set and do whatever I could to get back into it."
Keys has not won a title since reigning at Melbourne Park last year and, unlike arriving in 2025 following success in Adelaide, the veteran has struggled to find her A game.
But the 30-year-old is fine with that.
"Last year I played some unbelievable tennis and it's one of those things where you have moments in your career where things just aren't going right, and that's how it felt for a couple of weeks," Keys said.
"But even then I feel like there were still moments throughout the AO last year where things got really tricky, and it's easy to look back and romanticise it and think I played unbelievable tennis.
"But everyone likes to remind me that I'm the 'losingest' grand slam champion, where I lost more games than anyone in history while winning a grand slam.
"So obviously there is room for improvement."
Keys will play Karolina Pliskova for a spot in the last 16 after the Czech former world No.1 ended the run of Indonesian revelation Janice Tjen with a 6-4 6-4 triumph.
Anisimova was relieved to progress, the world No.4 needing almost two hours to see off Czech Katerina Siniakova 6-1 6-4.
Siniakova is the world's top-ranked women's doubles star but also produced levels of tennis much higher than her No.45 standing in singles to stress out Anisimova on Margaret Court Arena.
"That was quite a tough match," she said.
"It was getting a little crazy in the second set but playing against Katerina, she's such a legend.
"Hearing how many grand slams she's won every time in doubles is just insane.
"So obviously she was really giving me a run for my money."
A finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, Anisimova will play compatriot Peyton Stearns on Saturday for a quarter-final berth.
Sixth seed Pegula also advanced on Thursday with a 6-0 6-2 win over McCartney Kessler in another all-American affair.
A three-time AO quarter-finalist, Pegula will meet Oksana Selekhmeteva in the third round after the Russian eliminated Spanish former world No.2 and 25th seed Paula Badosa 6-4 6-4.
Second-seeded Swiatek posted a fuss-free 6-2 6-3 win over Maria Bouzkova, while fifth-seeded Rybakina eased past Varvara Gracheva of France 7-5 6-2.
Maddison Inglis kept Australian hopes alive with an epic 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-7) victory over German veteran Laura Siegemund.
The qualifier's reward is a showdown on Saturday with two-time Open champion Naomi Osaka for an improbable place in the last 16.
But Swiss 10th seed Belinda Bencic bowed out after suffering her first defeat of the year, a 6-3 0-6 6-4 loss to Czech qualifier Nikola Bartunkova.
