Neil Robertson showed no mercy to Crucible hero Steve Davis as he surged into a 7-1 lead in the first session of their World Championship quarter-final.
The Australian was much sharper than the six-time world champion as he rattled off the opening four frames.
Davis, 52, stemmed the tide after the mid-session break by holding his nerve to win the fifth but it was only a blip as Robertson stayed well in control.
Breaks of 89 and 53 left Davis staring at defeat when they resume at 7pm.
'The Nugget' came into the match on a high after his second-round win over defending champion John Higgins, but was powerless to stop Robertson taking command from the outset.
Breaks of 92 and 63 gave the Australian the early initiative, as he capitalised on every error or slice of bad luck afflicting Davis.
In the fourth frame, the veteran's luck seemed to have changed as he led 47-0, but a heavy bounce off a side cushion saw him lose position and allow Robertson a foothold in the frame, which he went on to take.
After the mid-session interval, the fifth frame was a scrappy affair which went the way of Davis, but Robertson won the sixth, then racked up a break of 89 as he took the seventh.
Davis is already battling to avoid a similarly comprehensive defeat as the 10-2 rout Robertson inflicted in the first round at The Crucible last year.
The pair are due to play eight more frames on Tuesday evening, with Davis needing to win at least three of them to extend the match into a third session on Wednesday.
In the morning session's other game, Northern Ireland's Mark Allen opened up a 5-3 lead over 2006 champion Graeme Dott.
Allen has dropped just nine frames in his opening two wins and kept up that form as he made three breaks of over 50 on his way to a 4-0 lead.
Dott fought back with three on the bounce, before Allen ended the session on a high with a break of 100 in the final frame.
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