Clijsters downs Zvonareva to reach round two

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) Kim Clijsters was made to work hard before she booked her place in the Wimbledon second round with a 7-5 6-3 win over Russian Vera Zvonareva today.

The duo's previous meeting in the second round at Eastbourne six days ago had lasted just 10 minutes before the Russian was forced to quit with a foot injury.

Zvonareva, who claimed the Edgbaston grasscourt title before Eastbourne, appeared to have overcome her injury but was unable to resist Clijsters's superior stroke play.

The Belgian second seed had been 5-4 up when rain halted play after 35 minutes on Monday and was caught cold on resumption, immediately dropping her serve.

But she quickly found her stride to gain the break back and bagged the set with a volley winner.

Despite grabbing a 3-0 lead in the second, Clijsters was broken when she was serving for the match but made sure of victory in the next game when Zvonareva slammed a forehand into the net after 88 minutes.

REUTERS HS RS2332