Serena Williams battled a misbehaving serve and scorching heat but stayed cool under pressure in a 7-5, 6-4 win over Czech Barbora Strycova to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday.
The manner of her defeat inevitably led to speculation that the 37-year-old may have had a physical problem that stopped her from competing with the effectiveness she had shown in earlier rounds.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza reached her second Wimbledon final in three years with a thumping 6-1, 6-1 win over Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova.
The 'Big Four' of men's tennis have made it into the second week of Wimbledon unscathed and largely untroubled while the women's draw remains wide open, but "Manic Monday" could offer major clues as to the destination of this year's titles.
Andy Murray thinks he played his best tennis of the tournament during his Australian Open quarter-final victory over David Ferrer on Wednesday.
PHOTOS from day three of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Wednesday.
Novak Djokovic held off a Roger Federer fightback as he reached the final of the Australian Open for the fifth time in six years. Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska was taken apart 6-0 6-4 by the reigning women's champion Serena Williams.
The Australian Open has seen many unheralded players punching above their weight. Rediff.com takes a look at a few such unseeded players who went the distance in the new millennium.
The British number one will play Croatian Donna Vekic, 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(4) victor over Czech Lucie Safarova in the day's second semi-final, in the climax to the Wimbledon warm-up tournament on Sunday.
Serena Williams sounded a warning for her fellow Australian Open contenders with a sleek win
Photos from matches on Day 2 at the Australian Open on Tuesday
The 70-year-old former French and US Open champion, who earned a reputation for controversial behaviour during his playing days, was excluded from the tie on Saturday for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Olympic champion and world number one Serena Williams tumbled out of the Rio de Janeiro singles competition in the third round on Tuesday after a shock defeat to Ukraine's Elina Svitolina.
Fourth seed Rafael Nadal showed he is healthy and ready to challenge for a third US Open title as he rolled into the last 16 at Flushing Meadows on Friday with a fist-pumping 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Russian Andrey Kuznetsov.
Venus Williams captured her 47th WTA career title on Saturday, and her biggest in five years, when she won the Wuhan Open in China, beating Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza.
Images from the matches played at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, in Wimbledon, London, on Monday.
PHOTOS from day seven of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis in London on Tuesday.
Federer, who skipped the entire clay court season after winning the Australian Open and claiming titles at Indian Wells and Miami this year, will next play defending champion Florian Mayer who beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille in three sets.
The latest tennis rankings have been announced by the ATP and WTA
IMAGES from matches played at the Miami Masters in Key Biscayne, Florida
Osaka survives test to reach last 16
IMAGES from Day 6 of the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Saturday.
Djokovic, the ninth seed, was originally scheduled to play Australian Open semi-finalist Chung Hyeon but the 22-year-old South Korean withdrew with a back injury about an hour before the match was due to start.
Konta first British woman in US Open last 16 since 1991
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.
Serena Williams underlined the difference in class and power between her and the rest of the women's field with a 6-0, 6-4 demolition of fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday to reach her seventh Australian Open final.
Venus Williams will try to become the oldest woman to win Wimbledon for 109 years on Saturday although, ominously for her the last time a 37-year-old reached the final, it was a Spaniard who ruined the script.
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.
Spaniard Garbine Muguruza's relationship with grasscourt tennis has not been smooth but it has blossomed so spectacularly.
As tradition demands the Serb will open play on Centre Court on Monday as defending men's champion but rather than a gentle loosener the 28-year-old faces a real danger in the form of Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, the world number 33.
Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli just wants to enjoy herself and play big matches when she returns to competitive tennis in March after more than four years in retirement.
Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas secured the biggest win of his career when he sent Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic packing in the third round of the Rogers Cup with a stunning 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 win on Thursday.
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.
IMAGES from the matches played on Day 2 of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Tuesday.
As the players warm up before the tournament, meet the players who could well be contenders for the 2017 Australian Open titles.
Images from Day 7 at the US Open.
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.
Nick Kyrgios needs to improve his fitness to have a chance of winning Grand Slams, former world number one Jim Courier said on Wednesday.
Images from matches played on Day 4 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Thursday
Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka advanced into the semi-finals at the Rogers Cup with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-3 victory over big-serving South African Kevin Anderson at the Aviva Centre in Toronto on Friday.
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