EASTBOURNE: Making her return to competitive tennis after a life-threatening illness, Serena Williams was only really worried about one thing Tuesday — her nails. The 13-time Grand Slam champion recovered from a terrible start to win her first match after nearly a year out, beating Tsvetana Pironkova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round. She said she “felt a little something” in the foot she injured shortly after winning Wimbledon last year, but when she fell in the last game, that was no longer her concern. “It's definitely not cool on my nails if I fall,” she said. “I can potentially break one and that makes me really upset. I have three weeks to get through without breaking a nail.” Williams started out looking nothing like the player who lifted the Wimbledon trophy in her last tournament. Her movement was uncertain, and she appeared not to trust her groundstrokes or her usually dominant serve. Next is a repeat of the 2010 Wimbledon final against top-seeded Vera Zvonareva, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over British wild card Heather Watson. Ana Ivanovic went through to a second-round meeting with Venus Williams with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Julia Goerges of Germany. Second-seeded Li Na of China, playing her first match since lifting the French Open trophy, overcame a stern challenge from Austrian qualifier Tamira Paszek to win 7-5, 6-4. French Open runner-up Francesca Schiavone advanced with a 7-6 (7), 6-1 win over Estonia's Kaia Kanepi. In the men's tournament, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga showed no sign of fatigue following his run to the Queen's Club final as he defeated Uzbek Denis Istomin 6-2, 7-5. The top-seeded Frenchman needed six break points to gain a 1-0 lead but then dominated the first set. After an exchange of breaks to open the second set Tsonga then broke for 6-5 and served out the match. Fourth-seeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by India's Somdev Devverman, sixth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson defeated Britain's Alex Slabinsky 7-5, 6-3 and American qualifier Donald Young beat another Briton, Daniel Cox, 6-1, 7-5. Lleyton Hewitt of Australia retired with a foot injury when trailing Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-2, 3-0, and there were wins for German qualifier Rainer Schuettler, Kei Nishikori of Japan and Ukraine's Illya Marchenko. Clijsters hurts ankle in loss DEN BOSCH, Netherlands: Second-ranked Kim Clijsters is in doubt for Wimbledon after re-aggravating an ankle injury Tuesday in a 7-6 (5), 6-3 defeat to Romina Oprandi of Italy at the Unicef Open. 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. In the men's competition, third-seeded Xavier Malisse of Belgium beat Alejandro Falla 6-3, 6-1 in their first-round match and will next face Dutch wild card Jesse Huta Galung. Clijsters' defeat means the top seeds in the men's and women's draw have both been knocked out, after Michel Berrer of Germany beat Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a first-round match Monday. Huta Galung beat Julian Reister of Germany 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Also, fifth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen beat Maximo Gonzalez 7-5, 6-1. In the women's draw, Jelena Dokic of Australia overpowered Alla Kudryavtseva 6-0, 6-4 in the first round, while Kimiko Date-Krumm beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-6 (3), 6-0 to set up a quarterfinal with Oprandi.
