The tournaments leading into any Grand Slam are usually seen as an indicator of who will do well when the big deal gets underway. But, apart from the US Open, that is not necessarily the case. In Australia, many players have not competed for weeks and take part in a maximum of two warm-up tournaments so their form is unpredictable. At Roland Garros, it is quite common for unexpected names to progress to the final stages or even win it (Majoli, Myskina, Costa, Gaudio). Wimbledon, like Melbourne, offers a maximum of two Tour-level warm-up tournaments.

Last year, Amelie Mauresmo lost her opening match at Eastbourne to Nathalie Dechy, but still managed to go on and win Wimbledon. Henin did well at both, winning Eastbourne and then reaching the Wimbledon final. Maria Sharapova and the Williams sisters don’t play the week before (Sharapova always plays Birmingham and gets to at least the semis), yet all have won Wimbledon. So, no pattern there.

Still, the exquisite tennis played by both Mauresmo and Henin in Eastbourne suggested that both will be there for the final weekend at the All England Club. Both were aggressive, but in different ways. While Mauresmo took every opportunity to come to the net, Henin’s strength was in her powerful winners from the baseline. Both played wonderful, open tennis, moving like a dream and showing not the slightest hesitation on what, after all, is an unfamiliar surface.

Both players, obvious to see, are comfortable on grass, but for Mauresmo it wasn’t always so.

"Before, I didn’t really know how to handle the grass, how to play on that surface, even though I won the juniors in ‘96. I felt there was something I don’t get," she said. "And then in 2002 I started to play much more aggressive, and then I could open myself to the atmosphere and all the things around the tournament and everything that’s happening on the court, the weight of the history there."

She loves it now, and one reason is that it provides an almost unique opportunity to live something like a normal life in a house rather than a hotel.

"It’s a change because we’re staying all together in a house. We’re cooking, so the atmosphere is also different outside of the stadium. I’ve been doing that, staying in the village, for years now. I always enjoy that. To me it’s much better. We have my friends coming there and we play cards at night, and last year we were watching the soccer matches (World Cup) with 15 people in the house. It’s always like a family atmosphere so I like it. Maybe that’s what helped me relax last year."

While Mauresmo and Henin did enough at Eastbourne to strongly suggest that either could win Wimbledon, what of the rest of the field?

The locals got excited by three British players reaching the second round. Not a big deal for many nationalities of course, but it hadn’t happened at Eastbourne for 16 years. Sybille Bammer continued to astound, a mother who was a mediocre player before she had her daughter but who is now on the verge of the top 20. She reached the quarter-finals, and gave Nadia Petrova such a hard match, losing 6-4 in the third after three hours (on grass!!!), that Petrova couldn’t then finish her semi-final against Mauresmo.

Petrova had also struggled, though, against Nathalie Dechy, winning 7-5 7-5, had the trainer out twice against Bammer, and once she dropped the first set to Mauresmo 6-4 she quit with a pectoral muscle strain that was making it painful to serve or change direction quickly. Just a precaution, with Wimbledon looming.

Petrova was the third seed, and Elena Dementieva was the fourth. It was her first appearance at Eastbourne. She beat Britain’s Katie O’Brien, as she should, but then she got hammered 6-1 6-0 by Marion Bartoli. The serve, as usual, played a major part in that embarrassment, and the frustrated Russian, usually the mildest person you could meet, even got a warning for abusing the ball.

Henin and Mauresmo both sailed through to the final without coming close to dropping a set, but then it got tough. Henin came through 7-5, 6-7, 7-6, after leading 4-2 in the second set. A swirling wind didn’t help, but both players performed at a high standard most of the time and Mauresmo actually served for the match at 5-4 in the third. As expected, she often threatened with a succession of strong volleys, while Henin countered with some flashy passing shots, especially off her backhand.

Both could travel to Wimbledon fully satisfied with their preparation, and as leading favourites to lift the trophy.

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