Venus Williams joined her sister Serena in the second round of the French Open following a straight-sets win over Alize Cornet on a rain-affected second day at Roland Garros.

As Kim Clijsters battled a back injury and Mary Pierce strutted out, so the bottom half of the women’s singles opened up for Martina Hingis at the Australian Open.

Venus Williams’ Australian Open campaign has come to an abrupt halt with the 10th seed falling 2-6 6-0 9-7 to Bulgarian teenager Tszvetana Pironkova in the opening round.

Greg Rusedski’s hopes of joining Tim Henman in the Wimbledon quarter-finals were put on hold today as rain delayed play.