American Andy Roddick defeated the Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-4 to win the Sony Ericsson Open on Sunday after an enthralling final.
Real Madrid's Croatia midfielder Luka Modric was named winner of the 2018 Ballon d'Or on Monday, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's decade-long hold on the prestigious award.
Novak Djokovic recovered from a set down to defeat fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the Dubai Championships on Wednesday, while India's Somdev Devvarman lost to Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.
Italian Camila Giorgi has now beaten the Australian Open champion in each of their three hardcourt meetings.
Stars go for the loveliest holidays -- exotic locations with a lot of adventure thrown in. So we decided to bring you their travels with a special series.
Pliskova, a finalist at last year's US Open who reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells last week, relied on her booming groundstrokes and strong returning to dispatch her American opponent in 59 minutes.
Croatia had shown glimpses of their potential at the last European Championships in France two years ago when they beat Spain but went out in the second round to eventual winners Portugal after conceding in extra time.
'We know it is going to be very difficult to play against them, and that is why we need to trust in our assets and play the perfect game'
Hull City completed the signing of Uruguay striker Abel Hernandez from Italian Serie A club Palermo for a club record fee of 9.5 million pounds ($15.8 million) on Monday.
IMAGES from Day 6 of the matches played at the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Saturday.
Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva has been handed a two-match ban for deceiving the referee in last week's Champions League play-off against Arsenal, UEFA said on Tuesday.
Diogo Jota and Joao Felix both scored their first international goals in the second half before Bruno Petkovic pulled one back and Andre Silva then added a fourth.
Angelique Kerber, who will reclaim the world number one ranking on Monday, breezed to a 6-2, 6-1 second-round victory over fellow German Andrea Petkovic at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday.
Cilic, eliminated after two three-set losses, was hoping to end his year on a high in the city where his Wimbledon dream was ended in this year's final by Federer - the Croatian sobbing on court after suffering blisters.
Real Madrid will not take any risk in rushing forward Gareth Bale back from injury and the Wales international will only return when he is ready, manager Zinedine Zidane said. Bale has not played since Jan. 17 after damaging a calf muscle in a La Liga match against Sporting Gijon. Spanish media have reported that Bale, whose Real career has been blighted by a succession of injuries, suffered a setback in his recovery. Zidane said Real needed to be "calm" about an injury that has been "going on for a bit more time for him". "If he's uncomfortable and it hurts him, it's normal that he could have a setback," Zidane told a news conference on Friday. "He's a very important player for us and we're not going to take any risks. We want him at 100 percent, not at 80 or 85." Zidane said Bale was "in good spirits" although he is set to miss at least the first leg of Real's Champions League last-16 clash with AS Roma in Italy on Wednesday.
Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic said he had a "big mountain to climb" to defeat seven-time champion Roger Federer, but that winning the title would mean the world to him.
Croatian Ivan Ljubicic captured his first ATP title in two years when he dismissed France's Michael Llodra 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the Lyon Grand Prix on Sunday.
Inspired Cilic vs 'tired' underdog Muller
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Sania Mirza and doubles partner Cara Black got off to a bad start in the New Year with a shock first round defeat against wild cards Jarmila Gajdosova and Ajlaat Tomljanovic at the WTA Apia International, in Sydney on Monday.
Top seed Rafa Nadal moved into the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Friday when Ivan Ljubicic became the eighth player to retire from the $3.24 million tournament. The Spanish world number two had just evened the match up at 3-6, 6-3 when 30-year-old Ljubicic, who had already had treatment on his left thigh, decided he could no longer continue.
Wimbledon was invaded by thousands of flying ants on Wednesday, causing much annoyance to players, officials and ticket holders alike - but there was little anyone could do to drive out the pests.
World number two Rafa Nadal's comeback came to a shuddering halt on Saturday when he was crushed 6-1, 6-3 by Croatian Marin Cilic in the semi-finals of the $6.6 million China Open.
Top seed Andy Murray quickly found his feet on grass at Queen's Club on Wednesday, posting a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Italy's Andreas Seppi to reach the third round of the Wimbledon warm-up tournament.
India's Sania Mirza put herself in contention for a seventh Grand Slam title as she breezed into the Australian Open mixed doubles final with Ivan Dodig, beating local favourites Samantha Stosur and Sam Groth in Melbourne on Friday.
Roger Federer was given a fright before reaching the semi-final of the inaugural Istanbul Open.
Ninth seed Gilles Simon booked his place in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday after a 7-6, 6-7, 6-1 win over Russian Igor Andreev.
Filmmaker Ronnie Screwvala's daughter Trishya got married to Suhail Chandhok on January 19 at the Taj Mahal Palace in south Mumbai. It was followed by a starry reception at the same venue the next day.
Teeanger Borna Coric completed an unlikely comeback for Croatia as the small Balkan nation beat the United States 3-2 in a Davis Cup quarter-final in Oregon on Sunday.
Five-times champion Roger Federer took the sting out of Croatian Ivo Karlovic's venomous serve to book his place in a 21st straight Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon.
Nadal braced for tough Cilic test in Melbourne showdown
Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France could find no solution to the problem of Ivo Karlovic's massive serve as the Croatian ran out a 7-6 6-7 7-5 7-6 victory in their third-round clash at Wimbledon on Friday.
With 'nothing to lose', Kuznetsov senses upset over vulnerable Murray
Prakash Amritraj sealed a second round berth in the Wimbledon qualifying event but it was all over for Somdev Devvarman, who crashed out after losing his opening match in London on Monday. Prakash, seeded 28 and ranked 161, beat Croatian world number 236 Antonio Veic 6-3, 6-4. Somdev, seeded 14th, lost 3-6, 2-6 to Monaco's Jean-Rene Lisnard, who is ranked 80 rungs below the Indian at 215.
I'm the little man who can, says Croatia's Modric
Croatia have no major injury concerns going into Sunday's World Cup final despite having played three 120-minute matches
Real Madrid's trophy aspirations could well depend on how well they cope with an injury crisis that sees Gareth Bale and Luka Modric in the treatment room.
Kenyan Pamela Jelimo claimed the Golden League's $1 million jackpot on Friday, while fellow Olympic champion Usain Bolt beat Asafa Powell to win the 100 metres at the Memorial Van Damme meeting.
Beaten twice by Nadal in the space of a month, in the Barcelona and Madrid Open finals, Thiem took his revenge by handing the 30-year-old Spaniard a first clay court defeat of the season in Rome.
World number one Rafael Nadal survived a second-set scare to beat Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-4 7-5 and seal his place in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open Friday.
