WILLIAMS SISTER ACT HEADLINES AEGON INTERNATIONAL

Written by: Staff on 11th June 2011

WILLIAMS SISTER ACT HEADLINES AEGON INTERNATIONAL |

Serena Williams makes her return to professional tennis at the AEGON International in Eastbourne, taking on Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria in her first match since she won the 2010 Wimbledon singles title.

Former world No.1 Williams, currently ranked No.25 in the world, has been sidelined for almost 12 months, first with a foot injury, then with a pulmonary embolism. It is the first time she has played at Eastbourne since 1998 when she reached the quarter-finals, losing to Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. If Williams wins her first round match she faces a possible second round assignment against either top seed Vera Zvonareva or British wildcard Heather Watson.

It will be a case of deja-vu for Venus Williams when she returns to action at the AEGON International in Eastbourne this week. She has drawn eighth seed Andrea Petkovic – the last opponent she faced on the tour at the Australian Open in January.

On that occasion the five-time Wimbledon champion retired after Petkovic had won the first game of their third round match and she has been absent from the tour since with hip and abdominal injuries.

French Open champion and No.2 seed Li Na, and reigning champion Ekaterina Makarova, will both face qualifiers in the first round.

Another former world number one Ana Ivanovic will match up against Germany’s Julia Goerges, and there is further home interest in the shape of wildcard British No.1 Elena Baltacha, who will face Aravane Rezai of France.

Wimbledon semi-finalist Petra Kvitova conducted the draw and picked out Anastasija Sevastova to face her. Kvitova said: “I enjoy playing on the grass and the courts have been great to practice on. Last time I played her, she beat me so I’m hoping to do a bit better this time.”

A combined ATP and WTA event, the AEGON International attracts a world class field each year as highly-ranked players take to the grass courts ahead of The Championships, Wimbledon in London.