Stosur growing in stature on grass

Amongst those of a gardening and philosophical bent, the belief is that mighty oaks from little acorns grow. (Clearly these sages have never been round to Ramsay Towers where massive slugs in many herbaceous borders thrive, but that is another story.)

Still, Sam Stosur is obviously siding with the green-fingered types after her simple, straightforward and swift 6-1, 6-3 clobbering of Carla Suarez Navarro. "It's probably one of the best matches I've played on grass in recent years, so that's a good feeling,'' the world No.5 and US Open champion said happily.

This sounded a little over the top for a first round victory. After all, Suarez Navarro is ranked 35 places below Stosur, at just 5ft 4in tall she has to stand on tippy-toes just to look the Australian in the eye and she reckons that clay and hard courts are her happiest hunting grounds. Surely, then, Stosur must have been the out-and-out favourite in this encounter and, therefore, her win was expected? Actually, no. And certainly not in the Stosur camp.

For all her impressive results around the world and for all that her game really ought to adapt well to the slick lawns of SW19, Stosur’s visits to Wimbledon tend to be fleeting so a place in the second round was to be treasured. No wonder she was as pleased as punch.

She has been coming to the All England Club for a decade now and yet, in all that time, she has managed to win just six matches. It took her four years to get beyond the first round, she had to wait until 2009 for her one and only appearance in the third round and she has lost in the first round for the past two years. It is hardly surprising, then, that she has not made a detailed study of her draw here this year. "I had a bit of a look at the draw,” she admitted, “but I certainly don't look too far ahead in this tournament. Next one's next.''

For the first 20 minutes or so, there was never a doubt that Stosur would be sticking around for a while; she was clattering her forehand, thumping her serve and cracking her returns. All in all, this proved far too much for the diminutive Suarez Navarro to handle.

Watched by her Fed Cup captain, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the Spaniard was adopting the very Arantxa-esque tactic of scampering around a good eight feet behind the baseline. Sanchez Vicario racked up four grand slam titles that way but, alas, Suarez Navarro is not quite so adept in turning endless defence into attack. She made a better fist of the second set but she was still eating Stosur’s dust as the No.5 seed accelerated to the finish line.

For years, the pundits have questioned Stosur’s mental fortitude: she is a very fine player but there are times, times when the chips are down, when the pressure becomes too much and she begins to unravel. She thought she had squashed that theory in the US Open final last year as much to the disbelief of 23,000 screaming New York fans, she had the temerity to demolish Serena Williams in straight sets.

But the jitters returned at the Australian Open – where she found herself in a media goldfish bowl as the whole of Australia followed her every move – and at the French Open where she seemed to be on her way to the final until Sara Errani reeled her in. But here, here where she has never done herself justice, here Stosur should feel no pressure at all. And it is here that the 5ft 4in Suarez Navarro might just prove to be the little acorn from which a mighty Stosur run through the draw might grow.