Serena Williams may have been second best at the French Open on Saturday but the American has moved ahead of fellow tennis player Maria Sharapova to top the women's earnings list in sports, according to Forbes Magazine. Williams ended the Russian's 11-year reign as the world number one women's money earner in sports by hauling in $28.9 million in combined prize money and off-field earnings over the past 12 months, the magazine said on Monday. Sharapova, who lost some sponsorship money after announcing she had tested positive for the recently banned substance meldonium at the Australian Open in January and is provisionally suspended, holds second spot at $21.9 million.
Novak Djokovic laid down an early marker ahead of the Australian Open with a scintillating performance on Tuesday as Serbia beat Australia to move closer to a place in the final of the Hopman Cup mixed team event. The world number three brushed aside former world number one Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-4 to secure an unbeatable 2-0 lead for the top seeds after Ana Ivanovic eased to a 6-4, 6-0 win over Alicia Molik.
Top-seed Jelena Jankovic and second seed Caroline Wozniacki suffered surprise third-round exits in the Cincinnati Open on Thursday.
Indian Aces notched up their third win on the trot with a 28-20 victory over UAE Royals in the battle of two unbeaten sides in an India Premier Tennis League match in Manila.
Take the poll and tell us which Hollywood celeb pulled off Indian wear better.
Manchester United maintained their stranglehold on Tottenham Hotspur with a controversial 2-0 Old Trafford victory to move back within five points of Premier League leaders Chelsea on Saturday.
World Cup hopefuls France salvaged a late 1-1 draw against the United States in their final friendly before the tournament, while fellow title favourites Spain also needed a late oal as they edged past Tunisia 1-0 on Saturday. Elsewhere, there were wins for finalists Serbia, Denmark, Morocco and Australia, while Sweden were held to a goalless draw by Peru.
Holder Marion Bartoli advanced to the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over former world number one Ana Ivanovic, while Maria Sharapova also advanced to the last eight. Russian Sharapova, a three-times Grand Slam winner, beat Belarus's Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-3 while Maria Kirilenko defeated sixth seed Shahar Peer 6-4, 6-3.
Jelena Jankovic thrashed local favourite Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-0 to make the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open but it was a gutsy display from Aravane Rezai that caught the eye on Thursday.
Serena Williams blamed an "apple in her throat" for her failure to reach the final of the Italian Open after Jelena Jankovic came back from the brink against the American in Rome on Friday. Jankovic saved a match point before pulling off a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 win over the world number one to set up a showdown with Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic.
Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters steamrolled their semi-final opponents on Friday to set up a tantalising all-Belgian final at the Brisbane International. Henin, playing her first tournament in 20 months after coming out of retirement, crushed Serbia's Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-2 in a little over then hour. Then Clijsters, who won last year's US Open after making her own fairytale comeback, demolished Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-2.
A relieved Rafael Nadal felt the confidence come flooding back in a first-round romp at the Australian Open on Monday.
Frenchman Fabrice Santoro will feature in the Roger Federer-led Indian Aces in a dual role of player-cum-coach in the upcoming International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).
Fed Cup holders Italy overcame two stern tests on Sunday to beat Ukraine 4-1 in Kharkiv and book their place in the semi-finals where they will play the Czech Republic.
Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was directly involved in the deadly 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and his clandestine drug trafficking network was used to finance the terror strikes in India's financial hub, a top Russian crime buster said on Thursday. "Gathered inputs testify that infamous regional drug baron Dawood Ibrahim had provided his logistics network for preparing and carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks by the militants." a Russian officer said.
Italy's Flavia Pennetta outran and outsmarted Australian Samantha Stosur to win the LA Championships with a 6-4, 6-3 victory in Sunday's final.
Renowned fitness trainer Gil Reyes, who has worked with top stars like Ana Ivanovic and Fernando Verdasco, on Monday lauded Sania Mirza's 'athleticism' after working for one week with the Indian tennis ace. Sania, who missed India's Fed cup campaign due to an abdominal injury after winning her career's first Grand Slam mixed doubles title at the Australian Open, trained with Reynes at his training centre in Las Vegas.
World number one Dinara Safina continued to bulldoze her way through the French Open draw when she flattened France's Aravane Rezai 6-1 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals on Sunday.
Top seed Roger Federer faces a tough opener against Russia's Dmitry Tursonov while Rafael Nadal begins his quest for an Olympic gold medal against Italian Potito Starace.
Chelsea opened up a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League despite being held to a 1-1 draw against top-four hopefuls Southampton in an absorbing game at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Defending champion Saina Nehwal is just one step away from retaining her women's singles title of the $ 120,000 Syed Modi International Badminton tournament.
Bahader had previously told media he was 75, which he attributed to "rounding up".
India's highest ranked male shutter, Kidambi Srikanth, pulled off an upset victory over former world No 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, but his team Bengaluru Hot Guns went down 2-3 to Hyderabad Hunters in the Premier Badminton League clash in Mumbai on Sunday.
Russia has said the maiden flight of the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), being developed by its Sukhoi design bureau in tie-up with Indian aerospace and defence major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), will be made by the end of the year.
A tortured and tormented Venus Williams whimpered out of the French Open on Friday while a Portuguese teenage upstart made a very noisy departure. Four-times champion Nadal barely broke into a sweat as he overcame potential banana skin Lleyton Hewitt to extend his Paris record to 31-0.
Former US Open winners Marat Safin, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Lindsay Davenport skidded out of the Grand Slam on Friday.
Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo had to forfeit her Brisbane International semi-final against compatriot Marion Bartoli Friday after receiving treatment on her lower back and left leg. The Frenchwoman, who had stunned top seed Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals on Thursday, was serving at 0-4 when she called for the trainer.
The women's draw at the US Open has been in news for the upsets it created. Almost everyday one or some days even two of the top seeds feel to unknown players.
World number three Venus Williams followed her sister Serena out of the Madrid Open Tuesday when she was beaten 6-3 3-6 7-5 by unseeded Russian teen-ager Alisa Kleybanova in the second round.
As the event goes into its second week, only six of the men's top 16 seeds and eight of the women's have made it through to the fourth round.
Order of play on the main showcourts on the first day of the June 23-July 6 Wimbledon tennis championships on Monday.
Indian ace Sania Mirza grabbed the last spot to be seeded 32nd at the Wimbledon championhips.
Roger Federer and Justine Henin have been named as top seeds for next week's Australian Open.
Serbia's tennis titans locked in their second round Australian Open spots on Monday while Andy Roddick scorched a sacrificial Swede and Roger Federer schmoozed his way through on Day One of the year's first Grand Slam. Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic flew through early at Melbourne Park as did Roddick. Federer was a delight under the stars, finessing his way to round two with a 6-1 7-6 7-5 win over Italy's Andreas Seppi.
List of French Open women's singles champions:
Dinara Safina shattered Jelena Jankovic's chances of securing the women's number one ranking with a 7-6, 6-1 victory in the semi-finals.
Although Spurs always looked more comfortable on the ball it was Sean Dyche's side, who have just a point from their opening five games, who had come the closest.
Robin Van Persie scored a dramatic stoppage time equaliser to earn Manchester United a deserved 1-1 draw at home to Premier League leaders Chelsea on Sunday.
Venus Williams won her second match in two days at the season-ending WTA Championships on Wednesday when she beat Elena Dementieva 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to leave herself on the brink of the semis with one round-robin match to play. Russian Vera Zvonareva also remained undefeated after a 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 victory over Serbia's Ana Ivanovic in the white group.
Japan's Naomi Osaka claimed her first career title with a commanding 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian Daria Kasatkina in a battle of 20-year-olds at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday.
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