Arthur Fery used earplugs to block out his furious opponent as he reached the second round at Wimbledon.
There had been the prospect of no British players progressing beyond the opening round after a disastrous Monday.
No home hopes won and Jack Draper withdrew from the tournament due to an arm injury, further depleting the home representatives.
However, Fery was the first British man to make it beyond the opening round at this year's Championships.
The 23-year-old dropped the first set against Damir Dzumhur but came roaring back on Court 16 to win 3-6 6-2 6-2 6-1.
Dzumhur was incensed early in the second set when a let was not called on one of his serves, with Fery going on to win that point.
He confronted the umpire and even Fery, angrily questioning why the Briton played on.
“It was a let," Dzumhur said.
"You played the point, you didn’t stop, huh? Wait, wait. You won the point. Just be honest. I don’t care what he [the umpire] is saying.”
Dzumhur called the match referee onto court to continue his complaints, leading to Fery putting in earplugs to block out his opponent. There was another angry confrontation at the net after the match.
Fery won 17 of the 20 games played after the incident as Dzumhur collapsed and he will face Otto Virtanen next after the Finn stunned fourth seed Ben Shelton.
Reflecting on the situation with Dzumhur after the match, Fery said: “It was expected, to be honest. He does that with everyone.
“I was just ready for it before the match. It's a let, it's a let for everyone. It's not just a let for him. Whether the point carries on or not, it's the same for both of us.”
Fery revealed he started putting earplugs in his bag on court at the start of the year after the noise at the change of ends began to distract him.
He used them here to try and ignore Dzumhur’s complaints, but he did still get drawn into engaging with his opponent at points.
“He was just staring at me,” Fery explained.
“I said, ‘well, stop staring at me’. Something along those lines. But nothing more. Nothing more. He knows he's in the wrong when he does these things. I think deep down he knows he's in the wrong.”
Fery also suggested that Dzumhur’s outbursts actually worked in his favour in turning the match around.
”To be honest it probably benefited me in a certain way, because I was a bit slow, a bit heavy on my legs,” Fery said.
“Got the spark ignited in me. Yeah, just got myself going.”
The second round is as far as Fery has made it at a Grand Slam but he arrived at SW19 in confident mood after reaching the quarter-finals at Queen's Club.
Jacob Fearnley then produced a brilliant comeback to ensure he will back on Thursday for the second round as well.
The 24-year-old clawed himself back from the brink of defeat to beat Alex Michelsen 3-6 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-2 for the first five-set victory of his career.
Fearnley will face the unseeded Jaume Munar for the chance to reach the third round of a Grand Slam, something he has never previously done.
