Van Gerwen opened his campaign at Alexandra Palace on Friday with a straightforward 3-0 victory over James Hurrell.
The Dutchman looked in the mood up on the oche, registering five 180s and erasing a couple of ton-plus checkouts.
With a return post-Christmas confirmed, Van Gerwen feels there is plenty of reason to believe he can make a deep run, despite a rocky 2024.
"I think in patches I did well, but the tank is still full," he said.
"I think I did enough, and that's the only thing that matters, especially knowing that I didn't have the best 12 months of my career.
"I love to perform on stages like this. It gives me a lot of energy, and the atmosphere definitely gave me goosebumps."
Van Gerwen will meet one of Brendan Dolan or Lok Yin Lee in the third round.