In recent years, outside Wimbledon's lawns, successes by British women in grand slam events have become as unlikely as snow on Ayers Rock. So there was a small explosion of joy when Julie Pullin pulled off a 6-1, 6-3 first-round win against Jane Chi of the United States yesterday, her first victory at this level.
Pullin (24), has twice been the British champion, but the indoor courts of Telford are a far, far cry from mid-summer Melbourne. Not that Court Eight is the most scenic in the world (set some distance from the imposing centre court with its retractable roof, now re-christened the Rod Laver arena), and backing on to a sprawl of railway lines.
Pullin may never have the opportunity to test the merits of the rolling roof, but, having battled her way through three qualifying matches, she has now extended her stay until at least tomorrow and was understandably delighted.
"I've lost four times in the first round at Wimbledon and I've never played that well there, which has been frustrating. I knew Jane had a slight injury and was struggling, but I was determined to just focus on my own game and always stay positive," Pullin said.
She endured a particularly bleak spell after Wimbledon last year when she spent eight weeks on the road in the US without winning a match.
"I had done pretty well there the year before, but I had been ill after Wimbledon and should really have stayed at home. When I returned I reassessed everything, particularly the mental side of my game, and I've benefited from it. Now my aim is to get into to the top 100." She is currently ranked 174th.
This was a modest win by a modest young women who, by virtue of qualifying, thoroughly deserved her small moment of grand slam glory. In these days of power hitting in the women's game, Pullin is rarely going to score victories at this level, and she grasped her opportunity with relish.
Lindsay Davenport, the Wimbledon champion, and France's Amelie Mauresmo, who lost last year's final here to the world number one Martina Hingis, champion here for three successive years, both opened with impressive wins, although it was Russia's Anna Kournikova who notched up the day's quickest victory with a whitewash of Austria's inexperienced Patricia Wartusch.
The big disappointment for the Australian fans was the defeat of their feisty 16-year-old Jelena Dokic, first round conqueror of Hingis at Wimbledon last year. Dokic was beaten in three sets by Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis, who thereby recorded, like Pullin, her first grand slam victory.
The young American Alexandra Stevenson, who beat Dokic in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, also went out, losing to Sweden's Asa Carlsson 7-6, 6-3.
The first seed to fall was the number 15 Anke Huber, knocked out in straight sets by Holland's Kristie Boogert.
