Physically strong as ever and mentally fresh, Samantha Stosur is hopeful of finally making an impact in her 14th Wimbledon campaign.
Stosur has brushed off her straight-sets first-round loss at Eastbourne to former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki as nothing more than a rusty display in her only grasscourt outing since charging to the French Open semi-finals earlier this month.
The one-time US Open champion opted to head home to Australia for some well-earned R&R before returning for Wimbledon, which has so far proven to be her least productive grand slam.
"I had a really long claycourt season with lots of tennis. I felt like I needed to have a bit of down time and refresh and come back here," Stosur said ahead of her opener on Monday against little-known Pole Magda Linette.
"I really just needed to take a bit of a break."
Despite the 6-2 6-1 loss to Wozniacki, Stosur left Eastbourne feeling good about her game after only spending three hours on grass preparing for the Wimbledon tune-up.
"It wasn't necessarily ideal, but I think it was still a good match for me and I actually had a few fair opportunities, especially in that first set, but I wasn't able to take them," she said, also insisting a head cold wouldn't affect her Wimbledon quest.
"Since then I've been able to get a good few days of practice in and I'm feeling better all the time."
Being seeded 14th significantly improves Stosur's chances of making the fourth round at the All England Club for the first time.
"It's nice knowing you don't have to play someone in the top 16 in the third round," the Australian No.1 said.
"But I've got to get there first, so it doesn't really matter until you actually make use of that position where you should make it through the draw."
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