Simon makes winning return

Gilles Simon secured victory over Evgeny Korolev at Eastbourne on his return to action after a knee injury.

Frenchman back in action after knee injury

Gilles Simon secured a 6-3 6-7 6-4 victory over Evgeny Korolev at the AEGON International in Eastbourne on his return to action after a knee injury. The Frenchman was ruled out of both the Australian and French Opens with the problem but came back to claim his first ATP Tour win of the year on Monday. The former top 10 player has seen his world ranking slip all the way to number 32 after a period of inactivity since March. Sixth seed Horacio Zeballos also progressed to the second round but needed three sets to see off Lukas Lacko 6-4 4-6 7-5. Number eight seed Michael Llodra had no such problems as he cruised past Germany's Martin Emmrich 6-0 6-3. Junior Wimbledon champion Andrey Kuznetsov was another winner after fellow qualifier Kei Nishikori retired when the former held a 6-4 3-1 lead. Denis Istomin, who impressed against Rafael Nadal at Queen's recently, and Stephane Robert also came through their first round matches. American James Blake failed to secure a passage into the second round after losing out 7-6 7-5 to France's Julien Benneteau. Dudi Sela, who knocked out Andy Roddick at Queen's, won his first round match after his opponent Kevin Anderson was forced to retire. Italian Fabio Fognini needed two hours and 47 minutes to see off the challenge of Giovanni Lapentti, eventually winning 7-6 6-7 6-3.