Ana Ivanovic's sharp loss of form since she won last year's French Open, and a niggling knee injury, have cast doubts over her title defence at the Paris grand slam which starts Sunday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic beat defending champion Andy Murray 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the Madrid Open final on Sunday to capture a record 29th Masters crown.
Novak Djokovic's preparations for the defence of his Australian Open title suffered an unexpected setback on Tuesday when the Serb was knocked out of the Brisbane International in the first round. The 21-year-old world number three lost his debut match at the brand new Pat Rafter Arena to former training partner Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-4, 6-4.
Top seed Rafael Nadal overcame fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3 at the Rome Masters on Friday while Roger Federer beat German qualifier Mischa Zverev 7-6, 6-2 to book a semi-final with holder Novak Djokovic. Serb Djokovic eased through with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro. Nadal next faces Chilean 12th seed Fernando Gonzalez, a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 winner over Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco.
Images from the first Wimbledon semi-final between Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Spain's Roberto Batista Agut at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Friday
Wayne Rooney's superb 73rd-minute strike gave 10-man Manchester United a 1-0 victory over Ecuador's LDU in the Club World Cup final on Sunday.
Friday's showdown will be the 40th meeting between the duo with Rafael Nadal leading 24-15 and 10-3 in Grand Slams.
Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the Monte Carlo Masters final on Sunday to become the first man to win the claycourt tournament five times in succession.
World number one Rafael Nadal held off a late challenge from Briton Andy Murray to move to the brink of a record fifth consecutive title at the Monte Carlo Masters with a 6-2, 7-6 semi-final win on Saturday.
World No 1 Serena Williams and Serbian eighth seed Jelena Jankovic set up a final showdown in the China Open after their contrasting victories in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Juve forward Cristiano Ronaldo had an unusually quiet game after scoring a hat-trick against Atletico in last year's competition, although he came within inches of grabbing a last-gasp winner when he sent a shot just past the far post.
World number one Ana Ivanovic battled her way into the third round of the Montreal Cup to keep her nose in front in the fight for the top ranking on Wednesday. Number three Maria Sharapova, however, will take no further part after withdrawing from the tournament with a shoulder injury following her win over Poland's Marta Domachowska.
Andy Murray won his third ATP title of the year beating Novak Djokovic 6-2, 7-5 in the South Florida heat on Sunday to win the Sony Ericsson Open.
World number three Jelena Jankovic, eliminated in the second round for the second tournament in a row, said she had lost her confidence after a poor start to the season.
World number three Novak Djokovic reached his first final of the season when he beat third-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 at the Dubai Championships on Friday. The Serb will face fourth seed David Ferrer after the Spaniard overwhelmed Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-2.
World number three Novak Djokovic reached his first final of the season when he beat third-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 at the Dubai Championships on Friday.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overpowered world number three Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6 to book his place in the Marseille Open final on Saturday. World number 12 Tsonga, who has now won his last four matches against Djokovic since losing to the Serb in the Australian Open final in 2008, will face Michael Llodra in an all-French final after the Parisian beat compatriot Gilles Simon 7-6, 6-2 in the other semi-final.
Local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overpowered world number three Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6 to book his place in the Marseille Open final on Saturday. World number 12 Tsonga, who has now won his last four matches against Djokovic since losing to the Serb in the Australian Open final in 2008, will face either Gilles Simon or Michael Llodra in an all-French final on Sunday.
Jelena Jankovic won a fierce scrap with Venus Williams 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday to set up a Stuttgart Grand Prix final against Nadia Petrova. Unseeded Russian Petrova's 6-4, 6-4 victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the opening semi-final was straightforward by comparison.
He is the first player to win an ATP tournament three times in succession on seven different occasions!
Novak Djokovic heads into his US Open final clash with Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday knowing he faces a challenge - a very big challenge indeed.
Defending US Open champion Rafael Nadal retired from his semi-final against Argentine third seed Juan Martin del Potro on Friday with right knee issues. The world number one was trailing 7-6(3), 6-2 when he decided to call it a night.
Doing enough but failing to dazzle, Ana Ivanovic safely navigated the first round of the Australian Open Monday with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Julia Goerges.
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic overcame a first-set spill to beat unseeded Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-4 6-1 in the third round at the Miami Open in Florida on Sunday.
With a heavy rain expected to hit Flushing Meadows later in the day, Serb Jankovic relied on her trademark dogged retrieving to beat Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4 before the muscular Williams swept away Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2 in the women's singles semi-finals at the US Open.
Nadal's comments follow media reports this week that Novak Djokovic, the president of the Players' Council, had urged players to unionise at a pre-Australian Open meeting and revolt over the way the revenues from the four grand slams are distributed.
Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic believes the earlier-than-usual start to the English Premier League season has hurt the team's performance.
'He can say what he wants, I don't have a problem with it. Does he show me the same amount of respect that most other players do? No, he doesn't, but that's the way he communicates these days'
His Queen's run, plus a quarter-final at the French Open suggest Novaj Djokovic, who will climb back into the world's top 20 on Monday, is ready for a lengthy run at Wimbledon.
Images from Day 9 of the 2020 Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Andy Murray upset Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic 7-6, 7-6 to win his first Masters Series title in Cincinnati.
Jelena Jankovic was upset 7-5, 6-2 by Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in the quarter-finals of the Montreal Cup on Friday.
The Davis Cup revolt by Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna against captain Leander Paes was a diaster waiting to happen, according to former India player Anand Amritraj.
Roger Federer overcame a sluggish start to defeat Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-3 and Kevin Anderson's booming serve proved too much for Joao Sousa as the big names advanced to the fourth round of the Miami Open on Monday.
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.
The former world No 1's second round victory set up a quarter-final meeting with Russia's Anastasia Rodionova at the Bangalore Open.
Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the semi-finals of the Dubai Championships on Thursday after holding off a strong second set challenge to beat France's Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 7-6.
Second seed Novak Djokovic overpowered seventh-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 6-3 in the opening match of the Masters Cup on Sunday. In the day's second match, fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko defeated sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 after fending off a dramatic comeback by the Frenchman in the third set before a roaring crowd.
Images from Day 3 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Wednesday
Jelena Jankovic's bid for a fourth straight title ended on Thursday when the world number one lost 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 to unseeded Italian Flavia Pennetta in the second round of the Zurich Open. The Serb was playing her opening match of the week after receiving a first-round bye but showed little sign of having benefited from her brief rest since winning in Moscow.
