Selena Williams recovers from early shock to win on comeback

Serena Williams came from a set down to win in her first competitive match for almost a year, beating Tsvetana Pironkova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the AEGON International here in Eastbourne.

The former world No1 has been out of action since stepping in glass four days after winning her 13th Grand Slam at Wimbledon and then suffered blood clots in both her lungs.

She struggled for power initially today and had to wait until the sixth game of the match to get on the scoreboard against last year's Wimbledon semi-finalist.

But the American used all her experience to rein her game in before finding a level at which she could dispatch her Bulgarian opponent easily in the second set.

The deciding set proved to be a battle as Williams again lost her serve but the 29-year-old was able to find her best tennis at crucial points and broke twice before holding her nerve for victory.

Meanwhile, British No1 Elena Baltacha continued the good form which saw her win the AEGON Challenge on Sunday as she saw off France's Aravane Rezai 6-2, 6-1 in Eastbourne. The world No61 will play Belarus' Victoria Azarenka in the next round.