Venus Williams of the United States returns a shot during her first round match against Andrea Petkovic of Germany at 2011's AEGON International in Eastbourne, Britain June 13, 2011. Williams won 2-1. (Xinhua/Chen Hongbo)

Venus Williams ended her five-month break with a three-set victory over Andrea Petkovic 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 at the Eastbourne WTA grass court on Monday.

"It felt fitting, I guess," Williams, 30, said of playing Petkovic again. "It was a great way to start it all off."

Williams began the match with two double-faults and she made a series of unforced errors, particularly off the forehand side.

She wasted three match points in the final game and saved a break-back point before finally taking it when Petkovic went wide with a forehand.

In other matches, third-seeded Victoria Azarenka beat Peng Shuai of China 6-4, 7-6 (2), while fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova recovered from a slow start to defeat Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.

Williams' sister Serena will make her return to action after nearly a year out against Tsvetana Pironkova on Tuesday. She could then face top-seeded Vera Zvonareva.