By DPA
Eastbourne (Britain) : Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic corrected a run of early errors to earn a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 opening-round victory over Australian Samantha Stosur at the Eastbourne Championships.
The teenaged Vaidisova, a French Open quarter-finalist, found her game after the loose opening set to overpower the Australian here Monday.
"I had too many unforced errors in the first set, I was trying for too much. But I got used to the conditions, I'm ready for the next round," said Vaidisova, the fifth seed.
Vaidisova's victory was her first at the event after losing in the 2005 first round.
"This kind of a tough match was the perfect practise," said the winner. "It was the first match of the season on grass, it was a fight."
Czech Lucie Safarova added to the misery of Anna-Lena Groenefeld, ousting the German 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-5). Groenefeld, ranked 109th in the world, has not won a match in nearly two months but had reached the Eastbourne quarters in 2006.
In a face-off between two wild-card entrants in the main draw, Britain's number 204 Melanie South secured a 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) upset win over Australian Alicia Molik, now 1-2 on grass this season. The underdog saved a match point before winning in a final-set tiebreaker.
Top seed Justine Henin has been forced to resist her sweet tooth as the six-time Grand Slam winner prepares for a run at Wimbledon, the lone major she has yet to win. The world number one is the tounament's top seed, with reigning Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo seeded second.
But Henin admits that due to past stomach problems and virus issues, she is under strict orders not to take any sugar before going to bed. "So I cannot eat Belgian chocolate," she complained.
Henin is slowly coming down from the high of her Roland Garros victory. While she has played two Wimbledon finals and reached the semis on two other occasions, she knows it will still be a major struggle to lift the trophy.
"To win all four grand slams would be a great achievement," she said. "To somehow win Wimbledon would be amazing, it would be another great adventure."