Serena, a six-times champion in New York who is seeded 17th, will start her campaign against Polish world number 60 Magda Linette and could face Venus in the third round before a possible fourth-round showdown with Romanian top seed Halep.
Roger Federer was made to work hard by Fernando Verdasco before beating the Spanish veteran 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Top seed Simona Halep came back from 4-1 down in the deciding set to beat Elina Svitolina 6-3 3-6 6-4 in the Qatar Open semi-final on Friday, marking her first victory over the Ukrainian in nearly two years.
Croatian Marin Cilic prepares to try to stop the Swiss claiming a sixth Australian Open title on Sunday.
Showing great mobility, the towering Czech neutralised the potentially tricky world number 25 in a sometimes tetchy two-hour contest on Margaret Court Arena.
Ramkumar Ramanathan enhanced his reputation of being a passionate fighter even in defeat against a much superior Marin Cilic while Yuki Bhambri squandered six break chances to crash out of the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune on Wednesday.
Images from Day 9 of the 2020 French Open at Roland Garros, in Paris, on Monday.
Making a stupendous start to the fresh season, Ramkumar Ramanathan scalped higher-ranked Roberto Carballes Baena to set up a second round clash with tournament-favourite Marin Cilic at the inaugural Tata Open Maharashtra, in Pune.
Images from Day 3 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Halep through but Stephens exits in Cincinnati
IMAGES from Day 6 of the matches played at the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Saturday.
A summary of Friday's tennis action from around the world.
Under the lights on the stadium court, Williams smashed 39 winners to defeat Azarenka 7-5, 6-3 in a rematch of the 2016 final, which the Belarusian won.
Will it be Rafa versus Djoko in Sunday's final?
Images from Day 2 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday
India ended its campaign at the Fed Cup with a fourth place finish after losing the classification tie 1-2 to Korea as the team badly missed injured Karman Kaur Thandi, who did not play on Saturday, in Astana, Kazakhstan.
It was Kristyna's first win over a top-five ranked player and she will go on to play fellow Czech Barbora Strycova in the quarter-finals.
Images from Day 7 of the 2021 Wimbledon at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, in London, on Monday.
IMAGES from Day 7 of the French Open, at Roland Garros, on Saturday.
Roger Federer faced down local battler John Millman 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8) in a five-set thriller on Friday night to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open. Defending champion Novak Djokovic thumped Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday to stay on course for a record-extending eighth title at Melbourne Park. Images from Day 5 of the 2020 Australian Open.
Roger Federer handed Nick Kyrgios a 6-4 6-1 7-5 tennis masterclass by storming into the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Saturday with a ruthless display that left the Australian talking to himself and waving the white flag.
Rafael Nadal was made to wait before his second-round Rogers Cup match due to several rain delays but did his part to put the schedule back on track with a speedy 6-2 6-3 win over Frenchman Benoit Paire on Wednesday.
IMAGES from the matches played at the PNB Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Sunday
World number one Simona Halep saved three match-points before edging past an inspired Lauren Davis 4-6, 6-4, 15-13 in a thrilling marathon to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday.