Serena Williams digs deep to claim comeback win at Eastbourne

Serena Williams made a winning return to tennis after almost a year out of action as she reached the second round of the Aegon Championships at Eastbourne, while another former world No 1 Kim Clijsters emerged as a major doubt for Wimbledon after aggravating an ankle injury at the Unicef Open in the Netherlands.

Williams has been sidelined since winning Wimbledon last year, first by a severe cut to her foot and then by multiple blood clots which she said left her "literally on (her] deathbed".

She made a dreadful start, losing the first set 6-1 to Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova, but battled back to complete a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in two hours and four minutes on centre court.

"I'm a little rusty, but I really enjoy playing here and being back on grass," the American said. "I'm just taking it one day at time, I hope you guys enjoyed the match and come back out and give me a little cheer, because I really need it and I'm so happy to be back."

Another former world No 1, Ana Ivanovic, saw off Germany's Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-3 despite a first serve percentage of just 46 per cent.

Fourth seed Francesca Schiavone had to battle through a long first set tie-break but then accelerated past Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.

Scotland's Elena Baltacha enjoyed a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 win over France's Aravane Rezai, and will now have the chance to test herself against third seed Viktoria Azarenka.

Marion Bartoli of France came through a final set tie-break to beat Czech Lucie Safarova, a finalist in Copenhagen last week, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7) while Russia's Ekaterina Makarova beat Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.

But Makarova's compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova suffered a 7-6 (11/9), 6-4 upset against fellow 19-year-old Bojana Jovanovski from Serbia.

In the men's draw, German veteran Rainer Schuettler upset fifth seed Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-2 in less than 58 minutes.

Schuettler broke once in the first set and twice in the second to set up a second round clash with Japan's Kei Nishikori, a 7-5, 6-1 winner over Russian Evgeny Kirillov.

There was disappointment for the home hopefuls in action, with Alex Slabinsky beaten 7-5, 6-3 by sixth seed Kevin Anderson and Dan Cox crashing to a 6-1, 7-5 defeat against American qualifier Donald Young.

Lucky loser Illya Marchenko, a replacement for absent eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, hammered Portugal's Frederico Gil 6-1, 6-3.

In Den Bosch, second-ranked Clijsters suffered on her way to a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 defeat to Romina Oprandi of Italy.

The top-seeded Clijsters skidded to the net and stumbled on the first point of the second game and appeared tentative for the rest of the match, although she did not call for any medical treatment.

Clijsters said she would return home to Belgium and seek medical advice before deciding whether to play at Wimbledon. "It depends on results from the hospital," she said.

The Belgian first hurt her ankle while dancing at her cousin's wedding in April, and had it taped for her brief run at the French Open, where she also was knocked out in the second round. "It's the same ankle I injured earlier," she said. "I slipped in the first set and it started hurting. I took some medication on the court that helped with pain in my knee but not my ankle."

The Belgian started the year by winning the Australian Open for her fourth Grand Slam title, but has struggled with her fitness since as she also overexerted her right shoulder and wrist during a busy spring schedule. It was Clijsters' second straight second-round exit, after losing to Arantxa Rus in the French Open.Oprandi played with her right knee and right arm heavily taped, but repeatedly surprised Clijsters with heavily sliced backhand drop shot winners, many of them off the Belgian's serve. Hampered by the pain from her ankle, Clijsters often did not even try to reach the balls. "I think maybe she was not 100 per cent and I tried drop shots," Oprandi said. "It came out good for me."

The 82nd-ranked Oprandi was stunned at her victory on the Rosmalen grass court. "There is no bigger thing in tennis," she said. "It was a miracle."

Also in the first round Jelena Dokic of Australia overpowered Alla Kudryavtseva 6-0, 6-4 while Kimiko Date-Krumm beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 to set up a quarter-final with Oprandi.