Black Tennis Pros

It's Wednesday at the AEGON International which means it's second round singles time at Devonshire Park.

The standout match is the women's top seed Vera Zvonareva against the unseeded American wild card Serena Williams. Yesterday Williams, the world No.26, recovered from a slow start to defeat Tsvetana Pironkova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in her first match since she won the Wimbledon title in 2010. Her opponent in that Wimbledon final, almost 12 months ago, was none other than Vera Zvonareva and it was a one-sided win for Williams who took it 6-3, 6-2.

However times have changed. Before yesterday, due to a serious foot injury and blood clots on both lungs, the former world No.1 had not played. Zvonareva, meanwhile, has maintained her form and is currently sitting at No.3 in the world rankings. The Russian came past Britain's Heather Watson yesterday, winning 6-3, 6-3 and will relish the opportunity to get her revenge on the younger Williams sister.

Serena's older sister, Venus, starts the proceedings on day five as she takes on Ana Ivanovic in the first match of the day on Centre Court. The pair have met on seven occasions with Williams winning six of them.

Third on Centre Court is the men's top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who brushed aside Denis Istomin yesterday, 6-2, 7-5, and he plays Radek Stepanek after the Czech player defeated Britain's Colin Fleming in round one.

Speaking of Brits, Elena Baltacha takes on third seed Victoria Azarenka first on Court 1 and James Ward will play a one set shootout against Janko Tipsarevic after their match was called to a halt at one set all yesterday.

With Schiavone, Hantuchova, Li Na and Kvitova also in action, as well as a doubles appearance from British duo Heather Watson & Anne Keothavong it promises to be another entertaining day of tennis in Eastbourne.

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James Ward

Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga set up a meeting with Britain's own Andy Murray in the final of the AEGON Championships on Sunday at the Queen's Club when he beat British No. 2 James Ward in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(7).


After Ward failed to convert a couple of break points of his own, Tsonga was able to serve out the set. Even when Ward had a chance to level the match after breaking for a 4-2 lead in the second set, Tsonga broke back to force a tie-break.


Both players had chances in the breaker, but it was Tsonga who came through as Ward missed a passing shot on the Frenchman's second match point.

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LONDON, June 7 (UPI) -- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga dropped just one game Tuesday in sailing through his second-round match at the Aegon Championships in London.

Tsonga, seeded fifth in the grass-court tournament, was on the court just 47 minutes before finishing off a 6-0, 6-1 rout of Michael Berrer. Tsonga won 68 percent of the points in the match, including a healthy 63 percent off Berrer's serve.

Third-seeded Andy Roddick also advanced but in a much more difficult 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 match against Feliciano Lopez. Roddick managed just two breaks in the match -- both coming in the third set.

Wild-card entrant James Ward pulled the upset of the day, knocking off fourth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. But seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco topped Nicolas Mahut 6-2, 6-3, 10th-seeded Michael Llodra took out Julien Benneteau while defending champion and No. 13-seeded Sam Querrey defeated Rainer Schuettler 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 6-3.

Ninth-seeded David Nalbandian got past Illya Marchenko 6-3, 6-4 and No. 12 Juan Martin del Potro beat Denis Istomin 6-4, 6-2 in first-round matches. Also in the first round 14th-seeded Janko Tipsarevic and No. 15 Kevin Anderson advanced with wins.

Unseeded first-round winners Tuesday were Matthew Ebden, Radek Stepanek, Adrian Mannarino, Michael Russell and Xavier Malisse.

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