Serena Williams and Vera Zvonareva are through to the second round of the AEGON International women's singles events following round one victories on Tuesday.
Zvonareva came past Britain's Heather Watson 6-3, 6-3 whilst Williams defeated 2010 Wimbledon semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
"It wasn't an easy match," said Serena after coming from a set down to win, "But I think more than anything I wanted to win, and I think mentally I was there. I could have done a lot of things better but that's okay."
Returning to the tour for the first time since the Wimbledon final she won against Zvonareva last year the American started badly, falling 0-5 down and losing the first set in under half an hour.
"I was just a little anxious," continued Williams, "and missing a tremendous amount of shots. I think I made maybe one serve in the first set and I knew that wasn't going to get me a victory."
Williams went on to give her thoughts about meeting Zvonareva in round two, "She's a great player. Again, I have nothing to lose. I'm just going to go in there and do what I can do and whatever happens happens. Like I said, this is all a bonus for me."
Meanwhile the top seed in the women's draw, Vera Zvonareva, proved too much for British No.2 Heather Watson in two competitive sets.
The Russian world No.3 broke the Brit early on in the first set and did so again to round things off in the ninth game.
Zvonareva proved too consistently aggressive for Watson at the start of set two, clinching another early break, and despite the rest of the set playing out incredibly evenly, it was enough for the top seed to move into round two.
When Williams and Zvonareva met on the grass courts of SW19 just under 12 months ago it was a quick straight sets victory for the Williams sister but the scoreline is unlikely to be as one-sided at Devonshire Park on Wednesday.
