British No.1 Johanna Konta hopes home comforts can inspire a charge to the title at the Aegon International Eastbourne.
The Australian Open semi-finalist has secured just two wins on the grass at Nottingham and Birmingham but insists her preparation for Wimbledon is on the right track.
“Nothing is guaranteed. I played four great matches against all four high quality players. I'm really happy with the amount of time I have been getting on the grass,” stated Konta, who opens up against either Shuai Zhang or world No.42 Lesia Tsurenko.
“I also got the opportunity to play doubles last week, which I thought was a lot of fun and gave me that much more time on the surface."
The No.11 seed reached the quarter-finals by the coast in 2015 and is delighted to experience the rare luxury of playing a tournament in her home town.
“I'm just really happy to be at home and get to spend time with my family, it definitely gives me that extra feeling of comfort,” said the 25-year-old, who quipped that her parents will be making breakfast and she can just “pop in the car to drive over” to the courts.
“On top of that, I get to play at one of the best events in a lead-up to a slam. I feel very lucky, just really enjoying my time.”
Reigning champion Belinda Bencic has been troubled by a back injury that ruled the Swiss youngster out of the French Open.
However, the world No.8 is adamant that fond memories on the way to the 2015 title can ignite her grass court campaign.
“Obviously it feels good to be back. I mean, you come back and you just have all these great memories. It's every time the same when you play a good tournament. I mean, we always go to the same restaurants, so it's a ritual,” explained the 19-year-old.
“I haven't been in the match streak lately, but somewhere I have to start so I hope here.”
Despite arriving as defending champion, Bencic insists she is under no pressure to replicate that success.
“No, why would I feel pressure? Of course it's (ranking) points, but every time someone is defending points somewhere. So I guess it's just a normal situation. And I don't feel any pressure and no expectation because I haven't played a lot of matches lately,” she said.
"I'm just trying to get the matches in and just keep going. Yeah, just have fun and obviously I'm so glad to be back on the courts, so that's the most important thing.”
Bencic reached the semi-final at s-Hertogenbosch but had to retire last week with a thigh injury at Birmingham trailing Irina-Camelia Begu 4-6, 3-4.
She added: "I have been doing the physio treatment all day. Sunday I was practising, so I should be fine. I still tape it a lot, so it's a little bit hurting but it's okay."
Top seed and Wimbledon 2012 finalist Agnieszka Radwanska, meanwhile, is looking for a spark having been knocked out of the Aegon Classic Birmingham by American CoCo Vandeweghe at the first hurdle.
Last year’s runner-up opens her title quest facing "lucky loser" Denisa Allertova or qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
Should the Pole progress, dangerous players such as Eugenie Bouchard, Dominika Cibulkova and Svetlana Kuznetsova wait in her quarter of the draw.
Radwanska said: “I saw the top of the draw for the first round, first match on grass here, it’s quite challenging. The first match is always tricky pretty much without practice on grass. I need to adjust. Hopefully Eastbourne will be better."