Organisers of the Indian Wells tennis tournament apologised to Venus Williams and her playing partner Leylah Fernandez after a clerical error ahead of the women's doubles draw denied the wildcard duo the opportunity to compete.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen started the season with a commanding Bahrain Grand Prix win from pole position.
Serena Williams took another emphatic step in defense of her U.S. Open title by crushing Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-0 on Thursday to reach the third round of the year's final Grand Slam.
Osaka battled on gamely before retiring while trailing Kaia Kanepi 7-6(4), 3-0.
The first stop on Serena Williams' farewell tour came to a quick end as she fell to Belinda Bencic in second-round action at the Canadian Open on Wednesday a day after announcing her forthcoming retirement from tennis.
Serena Williams said on Saturday the COVID-19 outbreak has not only given her a much needed stretch of downtime with her family, it has also turned her into a bit of a "neurotic" and "a recluse" given her past health scares.
The shocked 21-year-old rookie was unhurt in the incident between turns two and three but Williams said the chassis would have to be replaced, sidelining the Briton until Saturday's final session before qualifying. Former world champions Williams are already facing plenty of problems with an uncompetitive car that is some way off their rivals' pace.
Williams, 37, said "it's not about what we can do it's what we MUST do as working moms and working dads".
World No 1 Serena Williams, coming off a surprise third round loss at Wimbledon, heads the women's field for the US Open, which starts in New York in late August.
Charles Leclerc seized the first pole position of his Formula One career on Saturday with Ferrari team mate Sebastian Vettel second fastest to lock out the front row for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The strangest of campaigns crammed 17 races, instead of the record 22 originally envisaged, into little more than five months from July with four triple-headers.
Serena Williams has defeated her compatriot in four straight matches since a defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2013 Australian Open.
The wife of Mercedes motorsport head and Williams shareholder Toto will be driving the FW35 car on Friday in a young driver test that has been thrown open to race regulars as well to allow Pirelli to test tyres after controversial recent blowouts.
Fernando Alonso will test his new Ferrari for the first time in Spain on Tuesday while former champions Williams bring Formula One's 'launch season' to a close as the last team to unveil their 2013 car.
Former champions Williams hoped the last could be first again after finally unveiling their 2013 Formula One car on Tuesday at the Barcelona circuit where they were winners last year.
Venus Williams will make her Hopman Cup debut in Perth later this year, partnering John Isner to represent the United States in the mixed international tournament, organisers said on Wednesday.
Serena Williams' tactic of staying in her hotel room and being "boring" appears to be paying off after the world number one and top seed swept past Sara Errani into the final of the Madrid Open on Saturday.
Pastor Maldonado grabbed an astonishing first Formula One victory in a Spanish Grand Prix thriller that handed former champions Williams their first triumph in 132 races and nearly eight years.
Pastor Maldonado grabbed an astonishing first Formula One victory on Sunday in a Spanish Grand Prix thriller that handed former champions Williams their first triumph in 132 races and nearly eight years.
Serena Williams's motivating factor in her WTA Championships triumph on Sunday was to save her own sanity, the American said after beating Maria Sharapova in the final of the season-ending tournament.
Holder Petra Kvitova was stunned at the WTA Championships on Tuesday with a defeat that reduced her to tears while Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova began their campaigns in top form at the end-of-season competition.
An inspired Halep took full advantage of an error-strewn display by seven-time champion Williams to become the first Romanian to win the Wimbledon title.
Lewis Hamilton grabbed McLaren's 150th Formula One pole on Saturday in a Spanish Grand Prix qualifying that left him well-placed to become the fifth different winner in five races.
Serena Williams, who racked up her 500th match win with the victory, said her ankle is still causing her problems, a potential issue for tougher tests ahead.
Mexican Sergio Perez will stay at Force India next year for a fourth straight season, the Silverstone-based Formula One team announced after Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.
Venus Williams said she was 'overjoyed' that Wimbledon organisers gave women the spotlight on the tournament's main showcourts on Wednesday.
Images from Day 4 of the 2021 French Open in Paris on Wednesday.
Six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton and his team will take centre stage, hoping for another year of dominance after winning both titles for the past six years and ending up fastest in winter testing. Ferrari can be trusted to provide plenty of headlines with four-times champion Sebastian Vettel fighting to reassert himself at the team after being outshone by quick newcomer Leclerc, a double winner in 2019.
Serena Williams was left all alone trying to crush an unlikely uprising on Wimbledon's hallowed lawns on Tuesday as sister Venus and Kim Clijsters suffered shock defeats in the women's quarter-finals.
Two-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka advanced to the US Open final for the second time in her career with a 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-3 victory over big-hitting Jennifer Brady.
Force India face suspension from the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) for breaking with the group by submitting an unconditional entry for next year's championship, Toyota's John Howett said Friday. 'I think that it is the intention of FOTA to suspend them,' Howett, vice-chairman of FOTA, told a news conference at the Turkish Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old Canadian, who a year ago had failed to qualify for the tournament but has gone on to become the sport's brightest young star.
France's Marion Bartoli upset American Venus Williams 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to win the Stanford Classic on Sunday.
The front row lockout was a record-equalling 65th for champions Mercedes.
Andy Murray, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal led a charge into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday as the focus switched back to tennis and away from ethnic clashes which had marred the "Happy Slam."
She will now play Dutch 15th seed Kiki Bertens, who saw off Australian qualifier Daria Gavrilova 6-3, 6-3, in Saturday's semi-final on the red Foro Italico clay.
Ekaterina Makarova, who upset an injured Serena Williams in the fourth round of the 2012 Australian Open, completed a Melbourne Park sweep of the Williams sisters by eliminating Venus 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the second round on Monday.
World number one Serena Williams raced into the quarter-finals of the Paris Open with a 6-1, 6-2 demolition of Croatian qualifier Karolina Sprem on Thursday. The American top seed, who won the tournament in 1999 and 2003, will face France's Emilie Loit for a semi-final spot on Friday.
Players should stop grumbling about playing on the outside courts at Wimbledon and get on with their real jobs, world number one Roger Federer said on Monday. On the sixth day of the grasscourt championships, Serena Williams and Serbian world number two Jelena Jankovic hit out at organisers after they were shunted off the two main showcourts at the All England Club.
Former world number ones Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic endured a humbling start to the season after the top two seeds were dumped out of the Auckland Classic in the first round by unheralded opponents.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances