Less than a month after her run to the Wimbledon final, where she lost to Spain's Garbine Muguruza, 37-year-old Williams again had to turn back time against a young challenger.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Images from matches played on Day 4 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Thursday
If Serena Williams wanted to sound like someone who did not really care whether she won another Wimbledon or not, telling the world she just wanted to have fun, nobody was fooled on Thursday.
Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams face challenging early tests at the US Open following Friday's draws for the year's last Grand Slam starting on Monday.
Roger Federer celebrated his return to the top of the world rankings with his second title of the season, swatting aside Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the ABN AMRO World Tournament in Rotterdam on Sunday.
Top seed Roger Federer will challenge for a ninth Halle Open title after reaching the Wimbledon warm-up event final with a 6-4 7-6(5) victory over rising Russian talent Karen Khachanov on Saturday.
World No 55 Haase improved to a 2-2 career record against Zverev, including victories in their last two meetings.
Britain's Andy Murray enjoyed a routine win over Argentina's Juan Monaco to ease into the third round of the tennis tournament at the Rio Games on Tuesday, while Spain's world number nine David Ferrer was knocked out.
Alexander Zverev got the better of older brother Mischa at the Citi Open in Washington on Thursday, winning their first meeting at an ATP Tour event 6-3, 7-5.
The showdown will see world number one Serena Williams try to equal Steffi Graf's professional era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, while Angelique Kerber will seek to become the first German woman to lift the Wimbledon singles crown since her idol Graf 20 years ago.
A Champagne cork popped somewhere on Centre Court four games into Serena Williams's Wimbledon semi-final and while it was a tad premature, her 6-2 6-0 thrashing of Elena Vesnina suggested she could celebrating something special come Saturday. The top-seeded American will be taking nothing for granted, having seen her bid to match Steffi Graf's modern era record of grand slam titles stuck one short on 21 for a year, but it was a menacing show of strength, albeit against an overawed opponent.
List of French Open women's singles champions
With Wimbledon scrapped due to the pandemic, a flashback of some of the best moments from the last five championships at SW19.
Images from the French Open women's semi-final matches played at Roland Garros on Thursday
Under the lights on the stadium court, Williams smashed 39 winners to defeat Azarenka 7-5, 6-3 in a rematch of the 2016 final, which the Belarusian won.
IMAGES from matches on Day 9 at the French Open at Roland Garros
IMAGES from Day 8 of the matches played at the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Monday
Following is a list of Serena Williams' 23 grand slam singles titles after the American surpassed Steffi Graf's professional era record with victory at the Australian Open on Saturday:
Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro served notice of his strong form ahead of the Australian Open when he crushed defending champion Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the Sydney International on Saturday.
Top seed Andy Murray could meet Roger Federer or Kei Nishikori in the third round, while Serena faces tricky Belinda Bencic in opening round
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Maria Sharapova's contentious and captivating US Open run came to an end on Sunday when Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova beat her 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Flushing Meadows quarter-finals.
Coming into the tournament 21st in the WTA rankings, the Czech won 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 16 minutes to add to her triumph in St Petersburg earlier this month.
With the unique format at the WTA Finals, it is all about how you finish rather than how you start as new champion Agnieszka Radwanska proved perfectly in Singapore this week.
Romania's Simona Halep kicked off her campaign for a maiden WTA Finals title in emphatic fashion with a thumping 6-0, 6-3 victory over US Open champion Flavia Pennetta in the opening match of the eight-woman season-ending tournament on Sunday.
Serena Williams is third on the list of female Grand Slam title winners. She is one of only five women, after Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, to hold all four Grand Slam titles at same time.
As Russian Maria Sharapova and American Serena Williams get ready to slug it out in their big-ticket semi-final, records and history tells us who has had the upper hand.
American Serena Williams won her seventh Wimbledon singles crown, and equalled the professional era record of 22 grand slam titles, with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Germany's Angelique Kerber on Saturday:
Russian sixth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claimed her third title of the year by beating seventh-seeded Australian Daria Gavrilova in the final of the Hong Kong Tennis Open on Sunday.
A summary of the matches from Day 9 at the French Open.
World number two Simona Halep beat Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-2 in the China Open third round on Wednesday for her first win over the Russian in eight attempts.
IMAGES from the Miami Masters played in Key Biscayne, Florida on Tuesday
Images from Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.
World No 2 Rafael Nadal brushed aside American Jared Donaldson 6-1, 6-1 and will next face Diego Schwartzman after the Argentine beat Roberto Carballes 6-3, 6-1.
ATP says 'no evidence' against Harrison's racist remarks
Ailing knees, Father Time and even a resurgent Victoria Azarenka stand in the way of Serena Williams clinching her seventh Australian Open title and giving her one more shot at an achievement that would cap her storied career.
The 31-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion had not played a competitive match since losing to Sam Querrey in last year's Wimbledon quarter-finals and opted to have right hip surgery five months ago.
As Serena Williams sits out a fourth straight Grand Slam, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova will join Caroline Wozniacki in a quest for a major breakthrough in Australia.
PHOTOS from day two of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Tuesday.
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