Victoria Azarenka suffered a stunning meltdown and blew three match points against world number one Serena Williams before losing 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(1) in the third round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
Justine Henin qualified for the WTA Championships semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Jelena Jankovic.
Even though she won four big titles during the year, Serena Williams will still end 2012 ranked No 3 behind Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova. After backing up her victories at Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open with the WTA Championships title on Sunday, Williams concurred with Sharapova and World No 8 Li Na that she is in fact the world's top female tennis player.
Serena Williams has yet to drop a set in the showpiece tournament while Maria Sharapova has only conceded one set.
Williams broke down in tears at her post-match news conference when asked about the behaviour of the Parisian crowd.
Serena Williams battered Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon on Tuesday, seizing on moments of weakness from the Russian to ram home her advantage.
Serena Williams overpowered top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6, 6-1 to reach her first Kremlin Cup final.
Dutch teenager Michaella Krajicek is excited about meeting Williams as she had idolised the American while growing up.
World No. 1 Serena Williams bounced back from a set down to defeat former top ranked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 and win her third Family Circle Cup title on Sunday.
Defending champion Serena Williams finished her last US Open tune-up in style by beating Romanian third seed Simona Halep 6-3, 7-6(5) to win the Western & Southern Open on Sunday.
Justine Henin maintained her recent grand slam mastery over Serena Williams with a 7-6 6-1 triumph in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
Venus Williams survived a fierce onslaught from Serena Williams to win her fifth Wimbledon singles title on Saturday, finally subduing her younger sister 7-5, 6-4.
A summary of the first day's play at the US Open.
Serena Williams gave little away on Sunday as she assessed her chances of retaining her Wimbledon title -- and dismissed suggestions that she is under any pressure. The 34-year-old American has not struck a ball competitively since losing to Spain's Garbine Muguruza in the French Open final on June 4 - a defeat that frustrated her hopes of matching Steffi Graf's professional era record of 22 grand slam titles. Considering she also fell at the final hurdle in Australia against Angelique Kerber and went out of the U.S. Open semi-finals last year when two wins away from a calendar grand slam, Williams would be forgiven for feeling a little edgy.
Maria Sharapova made it to her maiden semi-finals of the French Open by beating fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6-3, 6-4.
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.
Top-ranked Serena Williams suffered a shock 6-4, 6-4 loss to Slovakia's world number 78 Jana Cepelova in the second round of the Family Circle Cup on Tuesday.
Breeze though the outfits that caught the maximum shutterbugs at the final Grand Slam of the year.
Roger Federer is back at Wimbledon a few weeks after winning his seventh title there, opening his bid for Olympic gold against Colombian Alejandro Falla.
IMAGES from all the action on Day 8 the Australian Open on Monday
An ailing Serena Williams stayed on course for a 20th grand slam singles title as she came back from the brink to reach the final of the French Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win against Swiss power hitter Timea Bacsinszky on Thursday.
Images from the Miami Open matches played on Saturday.
Novak Djokovic and Rogerer Federer loom over Melbourne Park for the year's opening Grand Slam as favourites for the Australian Open as questions remain as to whether one of Generation Next could finally end their stranglehold.
Top seed Nicole Vaidisova was dumped out of the Family Circle Cup on Tuesday in a second-round loss to Michaella Krajicek.
Venus is always the nicer one, Serena always the meaner. Venus again played the role of the elder sister to perfection in the latest rejoinder in the Williams Sister Act. Serena scrapped hard for almost two hours at the packed KSLTA stadium to beat Venus 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) and set up a final against Switzerland's Patty Schnyder at the WTA Bangalore Open on Saturday night.
Serena Williams is now one match away from reinforcing her stranglehold on the women's game by holding all four grand slam titles at the same time, a feat she will achieve for the second occasion if she beats 20th-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza in Saturday's final.
With the whiff of a fifth Wimbledon singles title in the air, grass court predator Serena Williams cut down defending champion Petra Kvitova to move ominously into the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Serena Williams, through sheer force of will as much as her unquestionable skill, beat world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in a dramatic US Open final on Sunday to win her fourth title at Flushing Meadows and her 15th career Grand Slam.
Serena Williams recovered from a set down to beat Australian Ashleigh Barty 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and book a place in the third round.
If humility was a sign of a true champion then unseeded Czech Petra Kvitova would be in with a real chance of upsetting the odds and beating Serena Williams in their semi-final showdown on Thursday.
The American world number one extended her winning streak over the Russian to 14 matches.
Defending champion Serena Williams beat China's Li Na 6-0, 6-3 on Friday to reach her second consecutive US Open final.
Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki ran the New York Marathon and completed the course in just over 3 hours and 30 minutes on a chilly Sunday.
American Serena Williams was third time lucky as she finally equalled Steffi Graf's long-standing record of 22 Grand Slam wins after defeating Germany's Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in the Wimbledon final on Saturday.
Maria Sharapova made it a remarkable 20 victories from 23 grand slam quarter-finals but was pushed all the way at Wimbledon on Tuesday by feisty American Coco Vandeweghe before emerging a 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-2 winner.
From soccer genius Lionel Messi to sprint king Usain Bolt, a shimmering array of the world's greatest sports stars are in the race for top honours at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards -- also called the 'Oscars of Sport' -- to be presented.
Australian Samantha Stosur pulled off a stunning 6-2, 6-7, 8-6 victory over top seed Serena Williams on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the French Open for the second year in succession.
Serena Williams enters the Australian Open as a strong favourite to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup but is all too aware that a sixth Melbourne Park title has now eluded her for five years.
Top-seeded world number one Williams overpowered Russian left-hander Ekaterina Makarova 6-1 ,6-3, unleashing her daunting firepower against the 17th-seeded Russian. Wozniacki advanced when China's Peng Shuai broke down in scary distress due to heat illness and retired in the second set, while trailing 7-6(1), 4-3.
Sluggish Serena Williams struggled through her jet lag to complete a 6-2, 6-1 victory over collegiate champion Nicole Gibbs in the second round of the Stanford Classic on Wednesday.
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