19 June 2013 | Tennis Queensland

Queenslander Bernard Tomic won his first match in almost two months as he beat British wild-card James Ward in straight sets in the opening round of the Eastbourne International yesterday.

With his father and coach John courtside for the second straight event, Tomic gave his Wimbledon preparation a badly-needed boost with a professional 6-3 6-4 win.

Tomic, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2011, said he was relieved to have secured a win on grass. The 20-year-old ended a four-match losing streak in style but said after the match he was still not fully recovered from the hamstring injury suffered during a first-round French Open loss last month.

“My leg’s probably not 100 per cent but I’m feeling OK out there, which is a good thing,” said Tomic.

“Every match I play here is going to be more confidence for me and every match here I’m going to have to use for Wimbledon, so hopefully my leg holds up every match I play and I don’t feel it.

In the WTA, Sam Stosur has had a much-needed win against 8th seed Nadia Petrova (RUS).

Stosur entered the tournament as a wildcard after a dismal French Open season, resulting in her Australian Ranking dropping out of the top 10 to 14th.

She is looking to turn around her clay court results and also her previous grass court history coming into the Wimbledon Grand Slam, saying there’s no specific reason why she hasn’t had success on this surface yet.

Hopefully for Queensland fans, her time is still to come.

Stosur will play Lucie Safarova (CZE) in the round of 16 whilst Tomic faces Frenchman Julien Bennteau.