Cross was pushed all the way by emerging Hungarian thrower Patrik Kovacs at the Europa Sports Park before taking a 6-4 first round win in the £140,000 event.
The 2018 world champion had found himself 4-3 down before levelling with a 152 finish, capitalising on missed doubles from Kovacs to move 5-4 up and then firing in an 11-darter to secure a second round tie with Van Gerwen.
"There's a lot more left in the tank and it will have to come out tomorrow," said Cross. "Michael's a great player but if I come out and I play, Michael will have to play well."
Huy and mighty!
Kim Huybrechts was the day's most impressive performer as he began his bid to win a first European Tour title for six years with a 105 average in a 6-2 defeat of Russia's Boris Koltsov.
Callan Rydz also recorded a ton-plus average and finished six doubles from eight attempts as he defeated Host Nation Qualifier Justin Hewitt 6-1 to move through to a tie with Peter Wright.
All four Gibraltarian representatives were eliminated on day one, as Dyson Parody went down 6-4 to Kenny Neyens, Adam Smith-Neale overcame Justin Broton 6-1 and Mervyn King whitewashed teenage prospect Craig Galliano.
Recent World Cup of Darts winner John Henderson was brought back to earth with a bump as Croatia's Boris Krcmar averaged almost 98 in his 6-2 win over the Scottish ace, creating a tasty round two tie with UK Open champion James Wade.
Germany's Florian Hempel produced an 11-darter to win the deciding leg of his tie with Stephen Bunting, and he now meets Gerwyn Price in Saturday's second round as the 16 seeded players enter the action.
Murnan makes it through
Top seed Joe Cullen will play Joe Murnan, who survived four missed match darts from Martijn Kleermaker in the deciding leg of their first round tie.
Simon Whitlock's 6-1 win over Wayne Jones set him up for a meeting with Michael Smith, while Ryan Searle came from 5-2 down and survived four missed match darts from Martin Schindler to create a tie with Krzysztof Ratajski - the 2019 Gibraltar Darts Trophy winner.
German number one Gabriel Clemens came from 2-0 down to defeat UK Open runner-up Luke Humphries 6-4, creating a meeting on Saturday with South African star Devon Petersen.
Ritchie Edhouse plays Nathan Aspinall following his 6-4 defeat of Steve Beaton, while Adam Hunt's whitewash of Geert Nentjes set up a meeting with Australia's Damon Heta.
Sweden's Andreas Harrysson takes on Danny Noppert after seeing off Irish teenager Keane Barry 6-3, while Ted Evetts survived five missed match darts from Ryan Murray before taking out 108 in the deciding leg of their clash.
2021 Gibraltar Darts Trophy results
Friday September 24 - First round
Afternoon session
- Andreas Harrysson 6-3 Keane Barry
- Joe Murnan 6-5 Martijn Kleermaker
- Adam Hunt 6-0 Geert Nentjes
- Adam Smith-Neale 6-1 Justin Broton
- Ted Evetts 6-5 Ryan Murray
- Rob Cross 6-4 Patrik Kovacs
- Boris Krcmar 6-2 John Henderson
- Mervyn King 6-0 Craig Galliano
Evening session
- Florian Hempel 6-5 Stephen Bunting
- Kenny Neyens 6-4 Dyson Parody
- Ryan Searle 6-5 Martin Schindler
- Simon Whitlock 6-1 Wayne Jones
- Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Boris Koltsov
- Callan Rydz 6-1 Justin Hewitt
- Ritchie Edhouse 6-4 Steve Beaton
- Gabriel Clemens 6-4 Luke Humphries
Second round draw
Afternoon session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
- Dirk van Duijvenbode v Ted Evetts
- Brendan Dolan v Mervyn King
- Danny Noppert v Andreas Harrysson
- Damon Heta v Adam Hunt
- Mensur Suljovic v Kim Huybrechts
- Michael Smith v Simon Whitlock
- James Wade v Boris Krcmar
- Krzysztof Ratajski v Ryan Searle
Evening session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
- Jonny Clayton v Adam Smith-Neale
- Jose de Sousa v Kenny Neyens
- Devon Petersen v Gabriel Clemens
- Peter Wright v Callan Rydz
- Gerwyn Price v Florian Hempel
- Michael van Gerwen v Rob Cross
- Joe Cullen v Joe Murnan
- Nathan Aspinall v Ritchie Edhouse
Fast Results
Scores
Racecards 
