Sam Stosur has achieved the foothold she needed in her first match since falling within sight of a notable victory against Maria Sharapova at the French Open last week.
Stosur, who is seeded to reach the final of the Aegon Classic this week, won her opener 6-1 6-3 against American Christina McHale, moving well on the lush grass and looking buoyant despite her Paris disappointment.
The Australian quelled a fightback that took McHale to within a point of 4-all in the second set, as she delivered three good first serves just at the most risky moments.
Stosur suggested she may have conquered her emotions as well, after wasting a set lead to Sharapova in the fourth round.
"It's a bit of a weird feeling, because I was so close and then I lost nine games in a row. What happened?" she said of the Sharapova setback.
"After a couple of days thinking about it, I realised I did play a very good tournament, probably the best for a few months. But, yeah, you still think, 'Wow, that's an opportunity kind of gone by'."
Stosur is seeded for a final on Sunday with Ana Ivanovic, the former world No. 1 from Serbia.
First, though, she has to get past a meeting on Thursday with her Aussie compatriot Casey Dellacqua before a potentially difficult quarterfinal.
That would be against either the titleholder, Daniela Hantuchova, or 43-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm.
The former Wimbledon semifinalist from Japan saved a match point in a dramatic 2-6, 6-4 7-6 (7) win over Monica Puig of Puerto Rico.
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