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LONDON (Reuters) - Venus Williams continued her winning return after a long injury layoff by beating former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 6-3 6-2 at the Eastbourne grass-court Wimbledon warm-up tournament on Wednesday.
Venus took just over an hour to get past Ivanovic and reach the quarter-finals as she bids to regain her strength and fitness for Wimbledon which starts next week.
The American, a five-times Wimbledon champion, had been sidelined for five months with a stomach injury.
Asked how she felt about her second-round performance, she told reporters: "Obviously, it's great, no breaks of serve. That's ideal for me in the match.
"To get a double break at the end just feels awesome. I was really happy to have those clean service games and not a lot of errors.
"I was just hoping not to be injured, honestly. The first match was definitely kind of nerve wracking, hoping to come off the court on two legs.
"That was the first goal. Then to win a match is the ultimate goal. Just to have the opportunity to play another match is a great start."
Venus had been out of action since the Australian Open in January having suffered abdominal and hip injuries.
She marked her return with a creditable 7-5 5-7 6-3 victory over Germany's Andrea Petkovic on Monday and looked sharper on Wednesday, breaking her opponent's serve four times.
Earlier, third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat Briton Elena Baltacha 6-1 7-6, Czech fifth seed Petra Kvitova defeated holder Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 7-6 and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat Italian fourth seed Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-2.
(Editing by Ken Ferris; To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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Venus took just over an hour to get past Ivanovic and reach the quarter-finals as she bids to regain her strength and fitness for Wimbledon which starts next week.
The American, a five-times Wimbledon champion, had been sidelined for five months with a stomach injury.
Asked how she felt about her second-round performance, she told reporters: "Obviously, it's great, no breaks of serve. That's ideal for me in the match.
"To get a double break at the end just feels awesome. I was really happy to have those clean service games and not a lot of errors.
"I was just hoping not to be injured, honestly. The first match was definitely kind of nerve wracking, hoping to come off the court on two legs.
"That was the first goal. Then to win a match is the ultimate goal. Just to have the opportunity to play another match is a great start."
Venus had been out of action since the Australian Open in January having suffered abdominal and hip injuries.
She marked her return with a creditable 7-5 5-7 6-3 victory over Germany's Andrea Petkovic on Monday and looked sharper on Wednesday, breaking her opponent's serve four times.
Earlier, third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat Briton Elena Baltacha 6-1 7-6, Czech fifth seed Petra Kvitova defeated holder Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 7-6 and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland beat Italian fourth seed Francesca Schiavone 6-3 6-2.
(Editing by Ken Ferris; To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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