Filed under: Tennis, Wimbledon
Reigning Wimbledon champion Serena Williams made a winning return to action after a year on the sidelines as she came from a set down to beat Tsvetana Pironkova at the Aegon International in Eastbourne.The American, playing her first match since winning at the All England Club last July, recovered from a disastrous first set in which she lost the first five games to win 1-6 6-3 6-4.
It has been a torrid 12 months for the younger Williams sister after first being sidelined with a foot injury suffered treading on cut on glass in a restaurant in Germany shortly after her SW19 triumph, before it later escalated into life-threatening blood clots.
And the 29-year-old's lengthy absence from the game became clear from the standard of her performance in the first set as she won just two points on her serve in the entire first set.
While far from perfect in the second set, the 12-time Grand Slam winner improved sufficiently to grasp control of the match, breaking early to race into a 3-0 lead.
She duly served out for the set to level the match and maintained her momentum by breaking the Bulgarian immediately at the start of the third.
Pironkova hit back when a Williams forehand clipped the net cord and fell onto her own side of the court, much to the American's frustration, however another break in the fifth game proved sufficient as she held on for a morale-boosting triumph.
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