Simona Halep will take over as the new number one in the WTA world rankings after progressing to the China Open final with a dominant 6-2 6-4 victory over Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in Beijing on Saturday.
'If I was a lady player, I'd go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were born.'
If Serena Williams' rivals were hoping that the American would take some time out to savour drawing level with Steffi Graf's professional-era record of 22 grand slam titles, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou fired off an immediate warning.
Serena Williams knows how tough it is to reach tennis's Holy Grail by winning all four majors in a year and Novak Djokovic does too after his quest fell short on Saturday. Williams cleared three of the hurdles last year, stumbling in the U.S. Open semi-finals when history beckoned. Djokovic claimed a first French Open title last month, having triumphed for a sixth time in Australia at the start of the year, and was favourite to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the first three grand slams of the year.
Maria Sharapova will be back in the US Open spotlight on Wednesday hoping she can come up with a winning encore to her electrifying first round victory over second seed Simona Halep.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) on Tuesday terminated the contract of Vijay Amritraj's Champions Tennis League due to breach of contract, much to the shock of the former star, who says the move has come at a time when they were striving to revive the League.
World number ones Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams will feel like they are working overtime on Friday when organisers cram all four semi-finals into a single session to try and ensure a rain-ravaged tournament ends on schedule.
With not one, or two but three passports in her possession, Britain's Johanna Konta could have been forgiven for suffering an identity crisis.
Less than a month after her run to the Wimbledon final, where she lost to Spain's Garbine Muguruza, 37-year-old Williams again had to turn back time against a young challenger.
The top-seeded Serb, who had not dropped a set in four matches since the round of 16 at the Australian Open in January, looked out-of-sorts throughout the 98-minute contest.
Top seed Dominic Thiem was knocked out the Rio Open in the first round on Tuesday, going down 6-3, 6-3 to Laslo Djere.
Top seed Serena Williams and her older sister Venus led a foursome of American women into the Australian Open fourth round on Saturday.
World number one Serena Williams kept her Wimbledon title defence on track on Sunday, downing Germany's Annika Beck 6-3, 6-0 with a crushing display of power and booming serves to chalk up her 300th grand slam victory.
As a new and unique brand of tennis makes its debut in the country with a mix of Indian and international stars, veteran Leander Paes says the Champions Tennis League, for him, is about building bonds and new friendships.
List of French Open women's singles champions
IMAGES from the Miami Masters played in Key Biscayne, Florida on Tuesday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
List of French Open women's singles champions:
World number one Novak Djokovic fended off a resurgent Rafael Nadal 7-5, 7-6 (4) in a pulsating battle on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open.
Angelique Kerber was forced to dig deep in her WTA Finals opener before the German world number one battled past Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3 in a high-class baseline slugfest at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
IMAGES from the matches played during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, at Wimbledon in London on Thursday
Rediff.com recaptures these and other exciting sporting moments from the week gone by....
Russian sixth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claimed her third title of the year by beating seventh-seeded Australian Daria Gavrilova in the final of the Hong Kong Tennis Open on Sunday.
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.
World number two Simona Halep beat Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-2 in the China Open third round on Wednesday for her first win over the Russian in eight attempts.
Following is a list of Serena Williams' 23 grand slam singles titles after the American surpassed Steffi Graf's professional era record with victory at the Australian Open on Saturday:
Second seed Sloane Stephens was shocked 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 by Germany's Andrea Petkovic in the second round of the Citi Open on Wednesday, disrupting the American's buildup to her US Open title defence.
Naomi Osaka continued her stunning run of form with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the first round of the Miami Open on Wednesday, the latest big win for the 20-year-old Japanese player.
Serena faces hard-hitting Giorgi in first round while former World No Hewitt play his final grand slam
Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been named top seeds for the Australian Open starting on Monday.
Top seed Andy Murray could meet Roger Federer or Kei Nishikori in the third round, while Serena faces tricky Belinda Bencic in opening round
Roger Federer rallied from a set down to beat Moldovan surprise package Radu Albot 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a stuttering start to the 20-times Grand Slam champion's Miami Open campaign on Saturday.
The showdown will see world number one Serena Williams try to equal Steffi Graf's professional era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, while Angelique Kerber will seek to become the first German woman to lift the Wimbledon singles crown since her idol Graf 20 years ago.
A Champagne cork popped somewhere on Centre Court four games into Serena Williams's Wimbledon semi-final and while it was a tad premature, her 6-2 6-0 thrashing of Elena Vesnina suggested she could celebrating something special come Saturday. The top-seeded American will be taking nothing for granted, having seen her bid to match Steffi Graf's modern era record of grand slam titles stuck one short on 21 for a year, but it was a menacing show of strength, albeit against an overawed opponent.
Romania's Simona Halep overcame Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 7-6(4) in the final of the Dubai Championships on Saturday to claim her 10th WTA singles title.
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are top seeds at the major starting Monday
Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak at the China Open to 27 matches with a 6-2, 6-2 demolition over big-serving American John Isner on Friday.
Roger Federer suffered a shock 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) defeat to Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis on Saturday that will cost the Swiss his world number one ranking and leaves the Miami men's tournament wide open.
Former world number one Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise second-round exit at the Barcelona Open when the Serb was beaten 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 by world number 140 Martin Klizan on Wednesday.
One thing both men have in common is that they will be aided by two men famed for their own Wimbledon duels -- Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg. That famous pair contested a hat-trick of finals from 1988 -- with Swede Edberg winning twice.
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