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Blake defeated on return from injury

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Former world No. 6 James Blake's hopes of finding form ahead of Wimbledon were dealt a blow after he was edged out of the first round of the AEGON International in Eastbourne by fourth seed Julien Benneteau.

Blake, who has been out of action since March with a knee injury, failed to make his return to the court a winning one as he was was ousted in straight sets 7-6(3) 7-5 by the Frenchman.

Having dropped out of the world top 100 for the first time in nearly five years in Monday's rankings, Blake battled hard but his lack of match practice proved costly, winning just three points in the first-set tie-breaker.

Benneteau's momentum carried over into the second set to snatch an early break, and although Blake briefly clawed his way back into the match to level, the Frenchman calmly wrapped up the victory after an hour and 35 minutes on court.

Gilles Simon showed craft and guile in equal measures to overcome the challenge of Evgeny Korolev 6-3 6-7(8) 6-4. Simon was afforded a wildcard into the event to take up the No. 3 seeding slot and he looked set to justify his position in style by cruising through the opening set.

The second set went all the way to the breaker and Simon passed up chances to win the match as Korolev levelled to force a decider. Both players were shaky on serve in the final set but Simon had enough in the tank to book his place his place in the second round.

Dennis Istomin showed a liking for grass when pushing Rafael Nadal hard at Queen's last week and he flexed his muscles in the first round at Eastbourne with a 6-0 6-3 win over Eduardo Schwank.

Likewise, Israel's Dudi Sela, responsible for ousting four-time champion Andy Roddick at the AEGON Championship, progressed into the second round by virtue of his opponent's retirement. Sela had recovered from losing the opening set and the match was in the balance at 5-7 6-3 when Kevin Anderson called time with a shoulder injury.

Xavier Malisse backed up his positive showing at Queen's with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 win over Rajeev Ram in the first round of the Unicef Open.

Malisse progressed to the quarter finals before falling to eventual winner Sam Querrey and the Belgian was much too good for Ram. Malisse was imperious behind his own serve, he did not give up a single break point, and three breaks of the Ram serve were enough to take him into the second round.

Arnaud Clement moved into the second round with a fitful display in beating qualifier Simon Stadler 6-1 3-6 6-1. Henri Kontinen produced a battling display to edge past Jamaica's Dustin Brown 7-5 2-6 7-6(5).

The No. 6 seed Thiemo De Bakker was sent spinning out of the tournament, as Igor Sijslingwon a final-set tiebreak to claim a 4-6 6-2 7-6(4) win over his fellow Dutchman.

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