The Egyptian dropped the first set 12-10 before hitting back to win the next two 11-4 and 11-8.

Serme boosted his hopes of a shock win when he claimed the fourth 11-5, but Gawad clinched the decider 11-6 to move through to the second round where he will face sixteenth seed Declan James of England.

James also came out on top in a five-set battle, beating France’s Victor Crouin 4-11, 11-9, 12-10, 5-11, 12-10.

There were no such problems for world number two Ali Farag, who triumphed 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 against England’s Nathan Lake.

Sixth seed Marwan ElShorbagy followed his Egyptian compatriots Farag and Gawad into round two with an 11-7, 11-8, 11-4 victory over France’s Benjamin Aubert.

Gregoire Marche will be the only Frenchman in the second round after he defeated Egypt’s Youssef Soliman 11-7, 11-7, 11-2.

In the all-English encounter on Court Three, Adrian Waller downed wild-card entry Patrick Rooney 11-6, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6.

In the women’s draw, second seed Nour El Tayeb swept aside England’s Jasmine Hutton 11-5, 11-7, 11-4.

This victory set ups a second-round meeting with Australia’s Donna Lobban, who edged a tight first set 13-11 before winning the next two 11-5, 11-8 to see off England’s Rachael Chadwick.

One of the matches of the day took place between Egypt’s Zeina Mickawy and Wales’ Tesni Evans as they fought out a five-set thriller.

Evans took the first two sets before Mickawy battled back to draw level, but the Welsh seventh seed withstood Mickawy’s comeback to win the fifth set and triumph 14-12, 11-4, 5-11, 4-11, 11-9.

Fifth seed Amanda Sobhy, of the United States, thrashed Finland’s Emilia Soini 11-5, 11-2, 11-2, while Alison Waters beat fellow English player Julianne Courtice 7-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9.

Belgian Tinne Gilis proved too strong for American Haley Mendez, winning 11-6, 6-11, 11-4, 11-2, while English number three seed Sarah-Jane Perry also enjoyed a three-set win.