Zvonareva, Rezai enter 3rd round of Gaz de France Stars tennis

Vera Zvonareva of Russia and Aravane Rezai of France sailed into the third round of the Gaz de France Stars tournament on Wednesday while Belgian tennis star Kim Clijsters returned to the court with a big bang.

Zvonareva, the sixth seed at the event in Hasselt, Belgium, beat Kirsten Flipkens on the latter's home soil 6-3, 6-4.

Rezai lost her first set against Croatia's Karolina Sprem 5-7. She battled to win the second set 7-6, and secured a place in the third round with an easy 6-1 win in the final set.

Clijsters' match with Luxembourger Anne Kremer was her first after more than two months of inactivity owing to wrist injury in Montreal, Canada.

The Belgian was simply too powerful for Kremer, a qualifier at Hasselt, to handle. She was beaten 3-6, 2-6 in just 44 minutes.

Clijsters now faces Martina Muller of Germany in the second round on Thursday.

Clijsters' compatriot, Caroline Maes, managed the stunt of the day by beating Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine.

Maes, ranked 328 in the world, showed a lot of fighting spirit in her match against the world's number 66. Maes lost the first set 6-3 but made a comeback in the second set 6-2. In the decisive set, she saved three set points and turned the table on Fedak.

Maes will play Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands in the second round. The Dutch player took benefit of the withdrawal of Mara Santangelo, Hasselt's eighth seed, owing to the latter's left wrist tendon injury.

Source: Xinhua