Had it not been for the lure of this summer's Olympic Games, Venus Williams would not have returned to the Tour so soon, certainly not before Wimbledon as she deals with Sjogren's Syndrome, an auto-immune disease which saps her energy.

The American admits there are days where she "just doesn't feel well" and that the disease, which is incurable, means she is "unlikely to get any better".

At the age of 31, after six months away and with each day a struggle, it is debatable whether she will ever be able to regain the kind of form which took her to seven grand slam titles, including five at Wimbledon. Yesterday, she was well beaten, 6-2, 6-3 by world No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round.

Williams is almost certain to break back into the world's top 50 at the end of this fortnight and barring some extremely unlikely results involving Varvara Lepchenko and Sloane Stephens, she would then be assured of an automatic spot for London.

"This tournament for me was all about getting to the Olympics, as I have said a couple of million times," Williams said. "If that happens for me, I think the chances are good, then I come out a victor. That's why I was here. The ultimate dream for me would be able to play both [singles and doubles]. I have to wait and see what I'm selected for. Maybe doubles and mixed is better for me, I don't know. For me, any medal in any event, even if it was the javelin, that's a medal.

Should Williams not make it on her ranking – the cut-off is 56 and she has to be in the top four Americans – it is hard to believe she would not be awarded one of the six wild cards on offer.

That, though, might be bad news for Elena Baltacha, whose hopes of a place in London will depend on a wild card because her ranking will slip from its current mark of 68. Baltacha now has to win next week's ITF tournament in Nottingham to even stand a chance of staying above Anne Keothavong as Britain's No 1.

The ITF has no obligation to go straight from the rankings, when choosing wild cards but though China's men got two wild cards in 2008, despite having significantly lower rankings than Britain's top two, nothing is guaranteed.

In theory, Heather Watson could leapfrog both Baltacha and Keothavong in the rankings if she reaches the quarter-finals here. The 20-year-old takes on 25th seed Julia Goerges of Germany in the second round today, a fearsome proposition but one the Guernsey resident will relish.

After the drama of Serena Williams' departure in the first round, all was calm yesterday as the women's top seed, Victoria Azarenka, turned in a vastly improved performance to defeat Germany's Dinah Pfizenmaier 6-1, 6-1.

Former champion Ana Ivanovic also advanced to the second round but eighth seed Marion Bartoli, a semi-finalist here last year, was beaten 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 by Petra Martic of Croatia.