INQUIRER Sports

EASTBOURNE -- Former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo brushed aside memories of a finals loss a year ago at the WTA Eastbourne Championships on Monday, earning a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 defeat of Alize Cornet in the first round.

Mauresmo needed just under two hours to claim victory in the all-French battle against the teenaged rising star of the Gallic game.

Australian Samantha Stosur kick-started her grass campaign after a second-round loss a week ago in Birmingham as a qualifier as she dashed the home hope of Katie O'Brien 6-4, 6-3.

The 107th-ranked wild card is one of two locals in the field on the south coast.

Mauresmo, a former number one and now ranked 30th, is recovering from a dismal clay season after winning just one match at Roland Garros before losing to a Spanish qualifier.

"I'm getting used to the grass," said Mauresmo, who lost the Eastbourne final a year ago to the now-retired Justine Henin, a year after claiming the Wimbledon trophy. It's always a huge change from clay, but I'm adapting pretty well."

Mauresmo, winner of 24 career titles including Wimbledon and the Australian Open, swept the first set against Cornet, ten years her junior at age 18.

After the youngster struck back by taking the second, Mauresmo overcame her seventh double-fault to hold for 5-5 in the final set.

Mauresmo reached 6-5 and put the victory away a game later on the first of two match points as Nice-born Cornet returned long.

"I thought about the final tiebreaker a year ago against Justine," said Mauresmo, 6-4 over her career at Eastbourne. "I didn't want to get into another one today.

"I did everything I could to avoid it and it worked out well."

Mauresmo said that facing a compatriot in the opening match was a tough psychological hurdle to overcome.

"We get along well but always hope to avoid each other until later on. It's always tough to face another French player."

Roland Garros semi-finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova heads the field, with former Wimbledon winner Lindsay Davenport also entered after winning the event in 2001.

Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli takes the second seeding.