For once, the ice bath did not seem like a purgatorial ritual. Chris Eaton stepped into the frozen water at the National Tennis Centre yesterday and may not have felt a thing, for he had just walked away from a performance that was exceedingly rare, even by the quirky standards of British tennis.

The thirteenth-best player in the country takes his place amid the Federers, Nadals and Murrays as one of the elite 128 in today's Wimbledon main draw, thanks to three astonishing matches in the qualifying competition at Roehampton in southwest London. If the LTA policy of abandoning lucky losers had been followed to the letter, Eaton would be spending Monday at home in front of the television.

The 20-year-old from East Horsley, Surrey, had been beaten in the semi-finals of the wild-card play-off by Jonny Marray, from Yorkshire, in straight sets. It was only when James Ward and Alex Slabinsky were awarded wild cards into the Slazenger Nottingham Open that British officials decided to go back on their principles and offer places to both semi-final losers. Eaton and Morgan Phillips were elevated.

Talk about taking one's chance. Eaton's 7-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory over Olivier Patience, of France - ranked No162 to the Englishman's No659 - was of a rare vintage, a player serving prodigiously, volleying with assurance and, delight of delights, hitting a single-handed backhand that drew wonderful patterns across No16 Court, around which several high profiles were drawn.

John Lloyd, the Great Britain Davis Cup captain, was purring, as, quite probably, were Paul Hutchins, the LTA's head of men's tennis, and Paul Annacone, his head coach. To have someone such as Eaton progress in the manner he did is a feather in many caps but praise should be reserved largely for Justin Sherring, who coached him from 8 to 16 at the Weybridge Academy and assured Eaton's parents, Mike and Sue, that he should continue to pursue the tennis dream.

It is a pity the LTA has chosen to abandon the grass-court challenger events that used to follow Wimbledon because Eaton looks as if he was born to play on the surface, much in the mould of Tim Henman - although he has a far more potent serve, as 31 aces demonstrated.

Only a month ago Eaton was taking long taxi rides between tournaments in Uzbekistan because he did not fancy the safety of internal flights. “I'd be lying if there weren't times when I'd like to be hanging out with my friends living a normal life,” he said. On Monday, he can summon a Wimbledon courtesy car to take him through the gates. How normal is that?