Elena Dementieva downplayed any suggestions she was the favourite for the Australian Open title after she romped into the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-2 demolition of Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova on Monday. The victory, in just 76 minutes, was the 14th in a row for the fourth-seeded Russian, who won the Auckland and Sydney tournaments before arriving at Melbourne Park. She is unbeaten in 2009 and plays Spain's unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro in the last eight.
Third seed Venus Williams was eliminated in the third round of the French Open, beaten 6-0, 6-4 by Hungary's Agnes Szavay on Friday.
The overall standings remained unchanged at the top with Thomas leading defending champion Froome by one minute 39 seconds and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin by 1:50.
Chris Froome showed again he will attack his rivals on every terrain as the Briton extended his overall lead in the Tour de France with a surprising move in Wednesday's 11th stage, which was won with panache by world champion Peter Sagan.
Top three seeds Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray continued their serene progress at the Qatar Open on Wednesday, reaching the quarter-finals with straight-sets victories.
Kolpak deals to end; Cricket South Africa's Graeme Smith says they will welcome back any former Kolpak players who are willing to be part of the domestic structures.
Former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli beat seventh seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-6, 6-4 at the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Thursday to set up a quarter-final against world number three Elena Dementieva. World number one Dinara Safina also moved into the last eight with a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 win over Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and will now meet Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.
Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova shocked fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Montreal Cup third round on Tuesday. Dementieva was joined at the exit door by eighth-seeded compatriot Vera Zvonareva, who was upset 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 by Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.
Rafael Nadal extended his astonishing winning run on clay to 42 consecutive sets as he reached the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Slovakia's Martin Klizan on Friday. The defending champion will face David Goffin on Saturday after the Belgian beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2.
Germany forward Lukas Podolski has criticised the new 24-team format for the European Championship, labelling it 'stupid' as it created a great deal of confusion among the players.
Hamburg led a trio of former European champions into the UEFA Cup knockout phase on Thursday and previous winners Valencia also secured a last 32 place. Aston Villa and Ajax Amsterdam progressed from Group F along with Hamburg, whose 2-0 victory at Slavia Prague meant Villa qualified despite a 2-1 home defeat by Slovakia's Zilina.
Olympique de Marseille were the fall guys on a hectic opening night of Europa League group stage action as German club Eintracht Frankfurt returned from the south of France with a surprise 2-1 victory on Thursday.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said striker Diego Costa will start against Liverpool in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday despite being left out of the Spain squad for this month's international matches because of persistent injuries.
Order of play on the main showcourts on the first day of the June 23-July 6 Wimbledon tennis championships on Monday.
England manager Roy Hodgson has hit out at critics who have questioned his team's patriotism and desire ahead of their European Championship clash against Wales in Lens on Thursday. Wales striker Gareth Bale last week said his team had "more passion and pride" than England, who "big themselves up before they've done anything". Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev also labelled Hodgson's men the weakest seeded team in the Euro 2016 prior to Saturday's draw with England. "I've been in the game sufficiently long to know every opponent has got an opinion," Hodgson told reporters.
England manager Roy Hodgson has told his squad to forget about potential club transfers and focus on their Euro 2016 campaign. With Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy the subject of a bid from Arsenal, according to British media, Hodgson has reportedly banned agents from the team hotel in Chantilly, though he is more concerned with players concentrating on the job at hand. England open their Group B campaign against Russia on Saturday before facing Wales and Slovakia. "Whether they (agents) come to the hotel or not is a moot point," he was quoted as saying on The Independent website. "They will be talking to the players face to face, on the phone or via Skype or Facebook, who the hell knows? "But one thing this group of players know and have accepted is that when you are on England duty, you are on England duty. Hodgson added that if a player decided to move clubs while on England duty he would not be allowed to leave to undertake a medical. "It is not a question of you sorting out your future, or diving off for medicals," he said.
Venus and Serena Williams won the 2009 Australian Open women's doubles title, beating Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Japan's Ai Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-3 in the final in Melbourne on Friday. The tenth-seeded American sisters captured their eighth Grand Slam doubles title in the process, having also won the Australian Open in 2001 and 2003.
International models Sylvia from Poland and Marieta from Slovakia share their fitness and fashion mantras.
Injury-plagued midfielder Jack Wilshere is fit and with a few more games under his belt will be ready to play for England at the European Championship next month, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said.
India's Isha Lakhani bowed out in the first round of the $ 25,000 Greater Noida ITF women's circuit tournament in Noida on Monday.
Jelena Jankovic was upset 7-5, 6-2 by Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in the quarter-finals of the Montreal Cup on Friday.
The Czech Republic's Frantisek Cermak and Slovakia's Michal Mertinak became the latest players to be banned and fined for betting on tennis matches, the ATP said on Monday. As the governing body of men's tennis continues to crack down on gambling in the sport, the two Eastern European doubles specialists became the first non-Italians to be sanctioned under the ATP's anti-corruption programme.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic is the top seed in the men's draw which includes five-times US Open champion and 17-times Grand Slam winner Roger Federer as seventh seed - his first time the Swiss has been placed outside the top three in a Grand Slam in over ten years.
Roger Federer began his quest for a modern-era record sixth consecutive Wimbledon title with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty.
A summary of Tuesday's play at the French Open.
Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty thrashed Russian sixth seed Dmitry Tursunov 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the St Petersburg Open.
Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova raced to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australian Daria Gavrilova to defend her Kremlin Cup title in Moscow on Saturday and secure a place at the season-ending WTA Finals.
Sania's Mirza's winning run at the AEGON Classic came to a halt in the semi-finals when she was beaten by Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-3, 0-6, 3-6 in Birmingham on Saturday.
Top seed Jelena Jankovic reached the quarter-finals of the China Open on Wednesday with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak, while Zheng Jie restored some pride for the host nation.
Maria Sharapova captured her first claycourt title when she defeated Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 7-6, 6-3 in the final of the Amelia Island Championships on Sunday. Sharapova became the first woman to win three titles this season following her success at the Australian Open and Qatar Open and improved her 2008 win-loss record to 22-1.
Top-seeded Maria Sharapova advanced to the semi-finals of the Amelia Island championships after a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko. The Australian Open champion will meet former world No 1 Lindsay Davenport. The American beat Hungary's Agnes Szavay 6-4 7-6, while Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova will play Alize Cornet in the other semi-final. Cornet beat Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-2 while Cibulkova beat France's Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 7-6.
Froome had been the favourite to retain his title but he paid the price for the efforts he made to win the Giro d'Italia in May as he just failed to become the first man in 20 years to achieve the Giro-Tour double.
Former champion Maria Sharapova maintained her perfect start to the season to join fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semi-finals of the Pacific Life Open on Wednesday. Sharapova, the Australian Open champion and fourth seed, stormed back from 5-2 down in the first set to beat holder Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-6, 6-1.
Russian seventh seed Dinara Safina overwhelmed Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-1 to claim the Montreal Cup.
Big-serving Andy Roddick crashed out of the Pacific Life Open on Sunday while second-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced after a battling 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 win over Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova. Much smoother progress was made by Swiss world number one Roger Federer, Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova and women's title-holder Daniela Hantuchova, who all won their respective matches in straight sets.
Fifth seeds Sania Mirza and Cara Black cantered into the second round, even as the duo of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi were shown the door in the men's doubles, at the French Open, in Paris, on Thursday.
Sunitha Rao shrugged off a poor start to beat Kristina Kuvoca of Slovakia in a tough three-setter and advance to the singles second round of the US $50,000 ITF women's tennis tournament in Boston, USA. The United States-based Indian, seeded fifth, rallied to beat her Slovakian opponent 1-6 6-4 7-6(4) in the first round of the hardcourt event.
The Indo-American duo beat Janette Husarova and Michaella Krajicek 6-3, 2-6, 11-9 in the first round.
Photos from the Euro 2016 qualifying matches played on Sunday.
The Slovakian eventually won 6-4, 6-1 but the match will be remembered for a ludicrous umpiring decision at a crucial stage of a tight opening set.
