Julie Pullin hopes she has earned a place at Eastbourne after winning a Wimbledon wild-card play-off.

Pullin secured her place in the main draw for The All England Championships, which begin in a fortnight, with two victories in a day against Sarah Borwell and Anna Hawkins.

Now the British No.4, from Hove, hopes organisers at the Hastings Direct Ladies International Championships give her a wild card into the qualifying event this weekend.

She said: "I'm sure winning the play-off will help my case. I proved I deserved my wild card for Wimbledon and it will be a lovely feeling to step out on court knowing I've earned the right to be there.

"I hope Eastbourne will be impressed by that. I could do with it as I don't want to go to Wimbledon after a week of no matches.

"I expect to wait until the last minute. I imagine organisers are waiting to see what late entries they get."

Pullin believes she was set to get a card into last year's main draw until Martina Navratilova declared her interest in playing singles again at Devonshire Park.

She said: "I was in the best form of my life last year and came into Eastbourne as British No.1 after reaching the third round of the DFS Classic in Birmingham. It was my home tournament as well."

Pullin lost in the second round of qualifiers as the shoulder problem, that has long troubled her, flared up again.

Eastbourne has been a part of Pullin's life since she was 11 and played national junior championships there.

She reached the second round proper and was a set and 2-1 up against former Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat, the 1995 winner at Devonshire Park.

Pullin said: "I was only about 18 and it was fantastic. Nathalie was one of the best women grasscourt players.

"Unfortunately, a ballgirl fainted in the sun which caused a delay. Then, just as we were about to step out on court again, someone in the crowd fainted. I had too much time to think about being ahead against Tauziat on Centre Court."

Pullin, who returns to Birmingham this week, is relieved she can now plan her grasscourt season.

She said: "The grasscourt season is always messy for scheduling because it is so short. Last week I seemed to pack three weeks into one as I played Surbiton before the play-offs and then went off to Birmingham. But now I know I'm at Wimbledon and look like playing at Eastbourne so there's a shape to it."

Pullin is back on track after a year of toil caused by an injury to her troublesome left shoulder.

At 27, she confessed thoughts about quitting did enter her mind.

"The injury has made it frustrating and hard to handle. I'd given myself an opportunity to push on after a good grasscourt season last year and was confident. But most of the rest of the year was a write off.

"The shoulder's manageable and it gets stiff and sore but it's not going to go away while I carry on playing.

"Yes, there have been times I've thought about it (retiring).

"As you get older you think about it more. You are constantly reassessing. I'm just playing day to day to see how I go. It's hard for me to look long term because of the shoulder."

It is not the first time she has considered stepping off the tourbus she has travelled on for 12 years. A traumatic personal break-up with her partner just over two years ago meant she was unable to think straight about her tennis .

"You have days where you think I don't want to do this any more. All players do."

She is glad she decided to play on, particularly after earning another chance to end her record of never having won a first-round match at Wimbledon.

She said: "This could be my last Wimbledon and I'd love to finally win a match there. My record looks bad. I haven't played my best tennis there but I feel I've got better and lost a couple of close matches the last two times."