A look at the form and previous records of Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko and Romanian Simona Halep ahead of the French Open final on Saturday
Simona Halep has moved back to the top five in the latest women's tennis world rankings issued by the WTA, after clinching her first title in over a year at the Madrid Masters.
An inspired Halep took full advantage of an error-strewn display by seven-time champion Williams to become the first Romanian to win the Wimbledon title.
Osaka, the 2019 and 2021 Melbourne Park champion, has not played on the WTA Tour since the Pan Pacific Open in September, where she pulled out of her second-round match against Beatriz Haddad Maia in Tokyo due to illness.
It was Halep's second Grand Slam title following her triumph at Roland Garros in Paris last year.
Halep said she would not recover from a calf injury in time, Wawrinka underwent foot surgery that would rule him out of the Games
Top seed Rafael Nadal beat American qualifier Maxime Cressy 7-6(6), 6-3 to win the Melbourne Summer Set 1 ATP 250 event and build up momentum heading into the Australian Open.
'It's very emotional. I've been waiting for this moment since I was 14'
Maria Sakkari knocked out reigning champion Paula Badosa in Friday's Indian Wells semi-finals and will take on Iga Swiatek in the title decider after the world number four fought back from a break down in each set to overpower Simona Halep.
Halep, the beaten finalist in the French Open last week, is the latest top player to pull out from the event after Czech world number three Karolina Pliskova opted to rest her injured elbow ahead of Wimbledon.
'I miss my team, I miss the players, I miss the tournaments, I miss everyone from the Tour'
Simona Halep, who skipped the Palermo Ladies Open last week, was making her first appearance on the WTA Tour since her title triumph at the Dubai Tennis Championships in February.
Simona Halep did something no one else was able to do against Serena Williams at the US Open on Wednesday but still could not stop the world number one from advancing to the semi-finals of the year's final Grand Slam.
In the men's singles draw five-time champion Novak Djokovic headlines the top half of the draw and shares a quarter with Russian No.5 seed and recent Halle finalist Andrey Rublev.
French Open runner-up Simona Halep was awarded a wildcard entry to feature at the Aegon International in Eastbourne next week, organisers said on Thursday.
Simona Halep has been in red-hot form and the absence of top-ranked Australian Ash Barty, who won her maiden Grand Slam in Paris last year, and US Open champion Naomi Osaka, will boost her chances further.
Factbox on Iga Swiatek, who defeated Sofia Kenin to win her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open on Saturday.
Garbine Muguruza stormed back into the Grand Slam big time with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach her first Australian Open semi-final. Fourth seed Simona Halep advanced to her second Australian Open semi-final with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Estonia's Anett Kontaveit in just 53 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Other nominees for the prize are Angelique Kerber (Germany), Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic and Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark).
Nick Kyrgios's nine-match winning streak ended in the Canadian Masters semi-finals on Friday when eighth-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz blasted his way to a 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-1 victory.
So while Halep went about dominating Serena, here are some famous people who got a ringside view of the action
'I will put everything I have Saturday on the court'
Simona Halep of Romania will not travel to New York to take part in the US Open due to COVID-19 concerns
Rafa Nadal returned from an injury layoff to beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1 7-6(4) on Wednesday
Multiple media reports on Monday said the USTA would confirm the Grand Slam tournament would go ahead without fans despite New York City still recording hundreds of new COVID-19 cases every day.
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko is the latest player to withdraw from the US Open, organisers of the tennis Grand Slam confirmed on Monday.
Simona Halep finds the prospect of 14 days of quarantine ahead of the Australian Open daunting
Stephens used her powerful game to the full in the first set, hitting winners almost at will, but Halep then stepped up a gear and went on to win 3-6, 6-4 6-1.
Pablo Carreno Busta rallied from a set down to defeat Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in Montreal to claim the biggest title of his career at the Canadian Masters on Sunday.
In a rematch of last year's French Open final, Barty prevailed once again, winning 6-3, 6-3 for a 4-0 head-to-head lead over the Czech.
With last year's French Open, her first Grand Slam title, under her belt, Simona Halep decided that 2019 would be "a chill year". Then, on Saturday, she stepped on to Wimbledon's Centre Court and obliterated the great Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2 in 56 minutes to win the final.
After stunning Venus Williams then saving two match points en route to beating Polona Hercog last week, Gauff was suddenly the hottest ticket in town but she was always going to find it tough against Halep, last year's French Open champion and the first top-10 opponent she had ever faced.
Three-times winner Serena Williams moved into the Toronto Open second round after beating Spain's Nuria Parrizas Diaz on Monday
It was third time lucky for Wozniacki following her runner-up finishes at the 2009 and 2014 US Opens.
The Romanian broke Williams's serve in the first game but that was the only one she managed for the rest of the opening set as the American bulldozed her way through the set in 20 minutes, serving it out with an ace.
Canada's Bianca Andreescu has decided not to compete at the Tokyo Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the former US Open champion said.
Third seed Simona Halep broke her hoodoo against Belgian Yanina Wickmayer with a 6-4, 6-2 win to sail into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Kazakh, whose previous best performance in a Grand Slam was reaching the quarter-final at the French Open last year, would like TO create history on the hallowed turf of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Serbian Jankovic was serving for the title at 5-4 in the second set but World No 3 Halep won the next three games and battled back for the biggest title of her career.
World number one Simona Halep has twice been left heartbroken in her quest for Grand Slam glory in Paris. Yet even now, standing just two wins away from redemption, she says she feels no pressure.
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