Clijsters cruises while Wozniacki loses at Eastbourne
Kim Clijsters has won her first match on grass courts since launching her comeback last summer, defeating Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets at the Aegon International in Eastbourne.
The 2005 Eastbourne champion conceded just two games to her Belgian counterpart on her way to a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
Earlier in the day, defending champion Caroline Wozniacki has lost her opening match in Eastbourne, as Aravane Rezai claimed yet another top-five scalp for the spring.
The Frenchwoman took the first set off the top seed before Wozniacki (pictured) wrested back control in the second. The tide again turned in the third as Rezai wrapped up a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory against the Dane.
Rezai, who lost to world No. 11 Na Li in the semi-finals of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham last week, controlled much of the play against the teenager and provided more evidence that the power game that served her so well on clay on her way to the title at the Madrid Open can be just as effective on grass.
"I like grass and I play very well on each surface," Rezai told the crowd after the match.
Sure how well she plays depends on whether Rezai finds her range as she blazes away, but as top-five players Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams found out in Madrid, when it all goes right for the world No. 19 there is no answer to the raw power generated off her racquet.
World No. 3 Wozniacki, in her first encounter with Rezai, is the latest to gain a first-hand appreciation of that fact.
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