Read Niall O'Flynn's Wimbledon '07 Preview
Amelie Mauresmo hopes to make it third time lucky at Eastbourne as she steps up preparations for the defence of her Wimbledon title.
The 27-year-old knows full well that defeat on the lawns of Devonshire Park does not necessarily sound the death-knell for her Wimbledon hopes - but she would rather not experience it.
Two years ago she suffered an embarrassing early exit on her Eastbourne debut against Russian teenager Vera Dushevina, but then went on to make the Wimbledon semi-finals for a second time.
Then last year she went out at the first time of asking to compatriot Nathalie Dechy - yet stormed home in a superb comeback win in the All-England Club final against Justine Henin.
Now she arrives on the south coast after yet another disappointment in her home-town grand slam at Roland Garros, where she suffered a shoulder injury on the back of an appendix operation earlier this year.
But she said: 'I'm looking forward to playing matches on grass again and I'm fine and feeling fit again.
'I didn't touch a racket for 10 days after the French Open but since then I've practised on grass in the British Embassy in Paris and at Wimbledon and now I want to get in a few matches here.
'I'm trying to find some good sensations again and going back to Wimbledon as champion will be a great feeling. I'm staying in the same house there as last year and there will be many good memories.
'I'm not looking to the end of the championships yet, just the first match and then, hopefully, the next ones but maybe the fact that I've had a little time off will mean I'll be a bit fresher than some of the other contenders.'
World number four Mauresmo, who was awarded a bye through the first round in the £260,000 International Women's Open, starts against Italy's Mara Santangelo.
Top seed and world number one Henin meets Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, the conqueror of American Jill Craybas, who reached round one as a qualifying round 'lucky loser' despite defeat against Katie O'Brien.
