The 2016 champion's next opponent may be far more to her liking than Hsieh, whose dazzling marksmanship left Kerber shrieking in frustration throughout much of the two-hour and eight-minute clash.
If Serena Williams' rivals were hoping that the American would take some time out to savour drawing level with Steffi Graf's professional-era record of 22 grand slam titles, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou fired off an immediate warning.
Serena Williams knows how tough it is to reach tennis's Holy Grail by winning all four majors in a year and Novak Djokovic does too after his quest fell short on Saturday. Williams cleared three of the hurdles last year, stumbling in the U.S. Open semi-finals when history beckoned. Djokovic claimed a first French Open title last month, having triumphed for a sixth time in Australia at the start of the year, and was favourite to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the first three grand slams of the year.
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played on Friday.
Murray, who is attempting to return to the top of the tennis world after undergoing hip surgery in January, was out of sorts in the first set of the rain-delayed match, losing three service games behind some uncharacteristically soft second serves.
World number ones Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams will feel like they are working overtime on Friday when organisers cram all four semi-finals into a single session to try and ensure a rain-ravaged tournament ends on schedule.
The 30-year-old is the first German woman to win Wimbledon since Steffi Graf in 1996.
Venus Williams gained revenge for her Wimbledon final defeat by Garbine Muguruza when the American advanced to the last four of the WTA Finals with a gutsy 7-5 6-4 victory over the Spanish world number two on Thursday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
BNP Paribas Open chief executive and tournament director Raymond Moore provoked outrage with controversial comments he made before the women's and men's finals at Indian Wells, and later issued an official apology.
World number one Rafael Nadal recorded his 20th straight win on clay as he began his quest for a sixth title in Madrid, defeating Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-1.
US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season, starts Monday, August 28, at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Roger Federer reached the Rogers Cup semi-finals on Friday after coming to the net early and often in a straight sets victory over Roberto Bautista Agut on a windy day in Montreal.
The lanky wild card kissed the Montreal court after completing a rousing 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) triumph as the 18-year-old became the youngest player to ever reach the quarter-finals of an ATP Masters 1000 event.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Romania's Simona Halep overcame Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 7-6(4) in the final of the Dubai Championships on Saturday to claim her 10th WTA singles title.
World number one Serena Williams kept her Wimbledon title defence on track on Sunday, downing Germany's Annika Beck 6-3, 6-0 with a crushing display of power and booming serves to chalk up her 300th grand slam victory.
Top seed Roger Federer reached the Halle Open semi-finals on Friday, beating defending champion Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4 and edging closer to a ninth title at the Wimbledon tune-up event.
The peak remains tantalisingly close for Serena Williams but negotiating the final incline to a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam singles title is proving the trickiest of all.
Rediff.com recaptures these and other exciting sporting moments from the week gone by....
Rafael Nadal returns to his favourite tournament, albeit not his preferred court, to begin pursuit of a record-extending 10th French Open title on Monday against Frenchman Benoit Paire.
Challengers to Serena Williams' throne have proved as fickle as a Paris spring and as the year's second grand slam starts the veteran American is again seemingly in a league of her own. The 34-year-old's charge to overhaul Margaret Court's record 24 grand slam singles titles may have stalled since she chalked up major number 21 at last year's Wimbledon. But after fine-tuning her claycourt game by winning last week's Italian Open she will begin the defence of her French Open title as the strong favourite. With twice French Open champion Maria Sharapova suspended pending the findings of an anti-doping hearing after she tested positive for Meldonium in Australia this year, the list of players capable of toppling a fully firing Williams is short.
World number one Novak Djokovic fended off a resurgent Rafael Nadal 7-5, 7-6 (4) in a pulsating battle on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open.
IMAGES from Day 3 of the US Open in New York on Wednesday.
Germany's experienced Angelique Kerber stands in the way of the 36-year-old American and an eighth, and arguably most impressive, All England Club singles crown which would see her match Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are top seeds at the major starting Monday
List of Wimbledon women's singles champions:
Williams, a record 23-times Grand Slam champion, will be returning to the All England Club for the first time since giving birth to her daughter last September.
Serena faces hard-hitting Giorgi in first round while former World No Hewitt play his final grand slam
IMAGES from the matches played on Day 2 of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Tuesday.
Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been named top seeds for the Australian Open starting on Monday.
IMAGES from Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Thursday.
Simona Halep will take over as the new number one in the WTA world rankings after progressing to the China Open final with a dominant 6-2 6-4 victory over Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in Beijing on Saturday.
It proved a happy Halloween for Czech Petra Kvitova after she made the most of coming back from the dead to set up a title-match showdown with Agnieszka Radwanksa at the WTA Finals.
Serena Williams took some coaching advice from a fan during her fourth round match.
Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak at the China Open to 27 matches with a 6-2, 6-2 demolition over big-serving American John Isner on Friday.
Maria Sharapova will be back in the US Open spotlight on Wednesday hoping she can come up with a winning encore to her electrifying first round victory over second seed Simona Halep.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Tuesday terminated the contract of Vijay Amritraj's Champions Tennis League due to breach of contract, much to the shock of the former star, who says the move has come at a time when they were striving to revive the League.
Svetlana Kuznetsova dug deep into her reserves to overcome Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 in their WTA Finals round robin opener on Monday, the late-arriving Russian upsetting the defending champion in a thrilling encounter.
Angelique Kerber was forced to dig deep in her WTA Finals opener before the German world number one battled past Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3 in a high-class baseline slugfest at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances