Sleepy Eastbourne braced for Williams’ return

Serena and Venus Williams make their long-awaited returns from lengthy injury absences at the Eastbourne grasscourt tournament from Monday in the last warm-up before Wimbledon.

Serena hasn’t played since winning her fourth Wimbledon title 49 weeks ago, suffering a freak foot injury when she stepped on glass at a restaurant followed by a worrying February blood clot in her lungs which required surgery.

The one-time number one has fallen to 25th on the WTA rankings, with her elder sister Venus standing at 32. Five-time Wimbledon winner Venus hasn’t been on court since January 21 when she retired after one game against German Andrea Petkovic at the Australian Open, citing abdominal muscle problems.

She will pick up where she left off after drawing eighth seed Petkovic in the first round on the grass at this sleepy English south coast venue while Serena will play against Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova. “I am so excited to be healthy enough to compete again,” Serena said in a statement last week.

EASTBOURNE, United Kingdom, June 12, 2011 (AFP)