Miami is one of the favourite stops on the WTA Tour because of the city's hip, youthful vibe but the final of Sony Open on Saturday was more about the golden oldies as Serena Williams and Li Na took centre stage.
Proving there is no place like home, World No 1 Serena Williams swept past China's Li Na 7-5, 6-1 in the final of the Sony Open on Saturday, collecting a record seventh win on the Miami hard courts.
World No 2 Li Na finally made her first appearance at the Sony Open on Sunday, taming Madison Keys in an unsteady effort while three-time champion Venus Williams was also made to work under a blazing Florida sun for her spot in the fourth round.
Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta upset China's Australian Open champion Li Na on Friday to join Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the women's final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis has said that Li Na's retirement was a loss to world tennis, while also crediting the Chinese ace of raising the game's profile in her home country and across Asia.
Dominika Cibulkova, the first Slovakian woman to reach a Grand Slam final, will take on China's Li Na in the Australian Open women's singles final at Melbourne Park, on Saturday.
Better known for her outrageous outfits, American Bethanie Mattek-Sands says she is finally letting her racket do the talking after upsetting former French Open champion Li Na on Thursday.
Li Na wore down Agnieszka Radwanska with a barrage of power-hitting to beat the fourth seed 7-5, 6-3 and advance to her third semi-final at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
Images from Day Nine of the 2013 US Open in New York on Tuesday.
Accused of gamesmanship and dogged by injury, Victoria Azarenka's bid for successive Australian Open titles on Saturday will pit her against an opponent in the form of her life and a centre-court crowd wary of any hint of bad sportsmanship.
Defending champion Victoria Azarenka suffered a panic attack trying to close out her Australian Open semi-final against American teenager Sloane Stephens on Thursday and needed a long medical timeout before setting up a final against Li Na.
Silencing the voices of doubt that plague Li Na's mind has been mission impossible at times for coaches and her stoic husband Jiang Shan, but the 30-year-old Chinese appears to have finally found harmony on and off the court.
China's No 1 Li Na has ruled herself out of playing at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 31-year-old said at the Australian Open on Friday.
The Women's Tennis Association, which has turned to Asia to grow its sport, is unclear how the International Tennis Premier League is going to pan out. 'We are still learning about it, just as the world and the media is,' said Melissa Pines, Vice-President, Asia-Pacific, on the sidelines of its new announcement to bring the season-ending BNP Paribas WTA Championships to South East Asia for the first time this year.
Good shoes, a relaxed mind after negotiating a perilous tournament for top seeds and her experience 12 months ago are standing Agnieska Radwanska in good stead for a tilt at another run to the Wimbledon final.
Images from ladies singles quarter-finals on day eight at the All England Club.
Installed by bookmakers as the favourite to win Wimbledon and a first grand slam title after stunning holder Serena Williams in the last 16 on Monday, Sabine Lisicki flashed a winning smile that belied any feelings of pressure.
Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova is confident she can win a grand slam title one day as her run to the Australian Open final showed she can adapt her game to all surfaces.
Victoria Azarenka holds a 5-4 record over Li Na and has won their last four matches, however, the Chinese is 2-0 up in Grand Slam encounters.
China's Li Na declined to pass judgement on Victoria Azarenka's controversial medical time-out during her Australian Open semi-final match, but said she would not do it herself when match points were at stake.
Images of the Day 11 of the Australian Open.
The murky issue of cheating reared its ugly head at the Australian Open on Thursday as world number one Victoria Azarenka took a controversial timeout on the verge of her semi-final victory against American teenager Sloane Stephens.
China's top tennis official has questioned Li Na's mental toughness following her early exit from the US Open last week.
Maria Sharapova swept aside any fears about her fitness with a ruthless 6-0, 6-0 victory over Olga Puchkova on Monday as a trio of top women progressed with ease on the first morning of the Australian Open.
Maria Sharapova's tiumph in Stuttgart on Sunday marked only the fifth instance a her decade-long career that the Russian successfully defended a title. Rediff.com takes a look at the instances.
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.
Former champion Lleyton Hewitt and Belgium's David Goffin, the lucky loser who took a set off Roger Federer at the French Open, have been given wild cards for this year's Wimbledon tennis championships.
Li Na's bid for a second Grand Slam title ended tearfully with an injured ankle, a bruised head and a heart-breaking defeat to Victoria Azarenka, but she could still laugh off her 'stupid' falls after a gallant failure in the Australian Open final.
Images from the Australian Open women's final played in Melbourne on Saturday.
China's Li Na sent a wayward Maria Sharapova crashing out of the Australian Open semi-finals on Thursday and says there will be no repeat of her capitulation to Kim Clijsters in the 2011 Melbourne Park final.
Agnieszka Radwanska needed eight match points to finish off Li Na on Thursday but confirmed her fine pre-Australian Open form by maintaining her perfect start to the year and reaching the final of the Sydney International.
China's Li Na was forced into a dogfight in the heat before overcoming dogged American Christina McHale 7-6, 7-5 to reach the second round of the Sydney International on Monday.
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus will finish the year as World No 1 after a 7-6, 6-3 win over China's Li Na in her final round robin match at the WTA Championships on Friday.
Injured, lonely and without a coach, Yaroslava Shvedova climbed a psychological mountain to oust the defending champion from the French Open.
The trio of Spaniards -- Rafa Nadal, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro -- showed why the nation has ruled Roland Garros for most of the last decade.
World number one Victoria Azarenka set up a final date with Maria Sharapova at the China Open after the top two seeds enjoyed comprehensive victories in their semi-finals on Saturday.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova will take on Li Na of China in the Italian Open final after a confident 6-3, 6-4 victory over Germany's Angelique Kerber in Rome on Saturday.
Tournament favourite Serena Williams withdrew from the Italian Open on Saturday with a lower back injury, the WTA said.
Maria Sharapova pushed the envelope on 'winning ugly' as she squeaked past British qualifier Heather Watson 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last 16 of the Pan Pacific Open on Tuesday.
With Virginia Wade the last Briton, male or female, to win a Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in 1977, the 18-year-old has to deal with plenty of expectation on her shoulders.
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