Injury-free Samantha Stosur makes fast progress at Wimbledon

SAMANTHA Stosur was as sunny as the mid-morning weather as she ripped apart Slovakian schoolgirl Anna Schmiedlova in straight sets.

Samantha Stosur

AUSTRALIA'S solo Wimbledon campaigner in the women's singles Samantha Stosur was as sunny as the mid-morning weather as she ripped apart the Slovakian schoolgirl Anna Schmiedlova in straight sets in her opening Wimbledon match.

Stosur settled into a comfortable back hand slice, forehand power game in the second set after initially demoralising Schmiedlova, a fillyish lanky player who illustrated enough flair in the first set to indicate this Wimbledon appearance won't be her last.

Schmiedlova had lost in qualifying but earned a spot in the main draw because of a withdrawal but went down to Stosur 6-1 6-3.

Stosur’s power, occasional ace and frequent attack at the net - she converted 19 of 26 net approaches - was a handy warm-up for her second round-match against Russian Olga Puchkova, ranked 86 in the world.

"I am feeling pretty good and I played well today, mainly I feel clearer and able to play with more clarity when I am out on the court and hopefully that translates to a decent performance for me here," Stosur said.

"This year I feel better, I got over the French Open and for the first time I got over it and I didn’t bring it onto the grass," adding that she was playing without "panicking or stress" on the court.

Stosur said she knows she will have to player lower to the ground against the flat shots of Puchkova but said she was ready for "my hands and feet to be lower".

While the initial matches at Wimbledon appear lopsided if Stosur, the 2011 US Open champion, continues to steamroll through the draw, she will more than likely come up against the top seed Serena Williams in the quarter finals.

Stosur has never made it past the third round on the lawns of Wimbledon but she recongises that this year, being injury free is a prime chance to rectify her lacklustre grass results.

She certainly appeared unhindered by a recent calf injury, moving freely around the court as Schmiedlova tested her range on occasions.

"My calf has been good for the past six or seven weeks, to be injury free is a nice feeling and I am very happy that I don't have think about anything other than just my tennis form," Stosur said after 70 minutes on court.

Stosur certainly appeared comfortable on the grass and coach David Taylor was in the players box shouting short words of encouragement throughout the match. Stosur acknowledged her place as the only Australian female in the singles draw this year - the first time in 63 years - but said such isolation didn't put any extra pressure on her.

"There isn't really any real pressure on me here but, of course, I want to do well, and I want to do better than I have before," she said.

"It is unfortunate that statistic, especially with the history Australian women have with Wimbledon and it is disappointing I am the only one. But these things can change quickly. I am definitely one of the older ones at 27, I have been around for a long time now, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with the pathway. if the players work hard enough they get through, with or without a pathway, it won’t be for lack of trying."

Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm rolled back the years to thrash German teenager Carina Witthoeft 6-0 6-2 in the first round.

At 42, Date-Krumm is the oldest player competing in the main draw at the All England Club, but age trumped youth on Court 14 as she crushed Witthoeft, an 18-year-old qualifier, in just 44 minutes, hitting 17 winners to her opponent's two.

Li Na, the Chinese sixth seed, raced into the second round with a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 defeat of Michaella Krajicek.

The 2011 French Open champion wasted little time on Court 12 as she demolished her Dutch opponent in 67 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Sydney youngster Jack Duckworth stretched American Denis Kudra to five sets but went down 6-4,6-2,3-6,4-6,6-1. The other Australian qualifier Mathew Edben also lost his first round match, this time in straight sets to Japan's Kei Nishikori, 6-2,6-4,6-3.

Additional reporting: agencies