A summary of Friday play at the French Open.
Rafael Nadal began his year in perfect fashion with a three-set victory over Frenchman Gael Monfils in the Qatar Open in Doha on Saturday as he warms up for this month's Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic maintained his unbeaten record against Frenchman Gael Monfils with a 6-3, 6-2 win in the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Saturday, while Japan's Kei Nishikori also reached the final after beating Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka.
Roger Federer continued his sizzling form on Saturday to set up an all-Swiss final against Stan Wawrinka at the BNP Paribas Open in California.
Rafael Nadal's return to action came to a shuddering halt on Friday when the Spaniard was beaten by Slovakia's Martin Klizan in a late-night quarter-final duel at the China Open.
Wimbledon's grass is slower than when Sampras and all the classic serve-volley specialists ruled the roost and, though it still offers a lower bounce than clay or the hard courts that dominate the circuit, it seems that the difference is becoming marginal.
Angelique Kerber, who will reclaim the world number one ranking on Monday, breezed to a 6-2, 6-1 second-round victory over fellow German Andrea Petkovic at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday.
IMAGES from the French Open semi-finals played at Roland Garros on Friday
Top seed Stanislas Wawrinka dismantled the challenge of a rampaging Aljaz Bedene with ease as the Swiss World No. 4 retained the Chennai Open title with a straight sets win in the summit clash.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams advanced to the Auckland Classic quarter-finals and kept alive the hopes of an anticipated final between the pair in dramatically contrasting circumstances on Wednesday.
Unseeded Sloane Stephens got the better of fellow-American Venus Williams in a thrilling contest to make it to her first Grand Slam final, at the US Open, in New York, on Thursday.
Having let three match points slide in the fourth set against Roger Federer on Centre Court, Marin Cilic may be forgiven for wanting to rewind the video and replay the key moments again. His Swiss conqueror snatched a pulsating fourth-set tiebreak 11-9 before winning 6-7(4) 4-6 6-3 7-6(9) 6-3 to reach his 11th Wimbledon semi-final and keep up the tilt for an eighth title.
Roger Federer advanced to his 12th Australian Open semi-final on Tuesday with an efficient 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-4 victory over sixth seed Tomas Berdych.
Former champion Stanislas Wawrinka lived up to his top billing by cruising into the summit clash of the ATP Chennai Open here, where he will take on seventh seed Edouard Roger Vasselin of France.
Having dug in early on to stay with Federer, Nishikori ended up running away with the match to inflict a first straight sets defeat in the ATP Finals round-robin stages on the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
'When you looked at him even at that age, you could make out he was special.'
Manika Batra cruised to the semi-finals of the women's singles even as experienced paddler Mouma Das ended her campaign in the Commonwealth Games table tennis event.
Here are eight men to watch on the Roland Garros clay.
Andy Murray took to Melbourne Park's centre court as top seed at a grand slam for the first time in his career on Monday but the recently knighted Briton's victory over Illya Marchenko was far from a regal display.
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played on Monday
Three women in the field have topped the world rankings this season, incumbent Simona Halep and her predecessors Garbine Muguruza and Karolina Pliskova, but none of them have been able to kick on and cement their place as the tour's dominant player.
Hit hard. Don't give up. Just do it!
Venus Williams crushed Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-0 in the final of the Dubai Championship on Saturday, the veteran American bagging her first singles title since 2012.
Team Europe swept the singles matches at the inaugural Laver Cup on Friday before Australian Nick Kyrgios and American Jack Sock took down top-ranked Rafael Nadal and Tomas Berdych in the doubles to salvage a point for Team World.
Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza notched up her first ever victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 6-0, 6-3 win over American Varvara Lepchenko at the US Open on Monday.
Roger Federer moved to within one win of his 1,000 career victory when he crushed Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday to reach the final of the Brisbane International.
Violence has always been a fact of life in Bengal's politics; it is just that the faces have changed, the contesting ideologies have changed, says Saisuresh Sivawamy.
Richard Gasquet sent French Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka flying out of Wimbledon on Wednesday, winning the battle of the slingshot backhands 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second time.
Images from the third day at the US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, in New York, on Wednesday:
Following the World Cup, companies queue up to sign Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur.
The 23-year-old says the points and calculations are far from her mind and it is the big events such as Wimbledon and next month's US Open that fire her up.
Novak Djokovic made an immense statement in his bid to rule men's tennis again when he defeated Andy Murray, the man who deposed him as world number one, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in an epic Qatar Open final in Doha on Saturday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Federer begins the pursuit of a record eighth Wimbledon title and a record 85th match win at the grass court major; Djokovic hoping to curb dismal slide
'Goran had quite a big influence on me to change my mentality and focus on my game. He changed my serve, I started to get aggressive and that is what I needed in my career'
Seven-times champion Serena Williams and Germany's Angelique Kerber will clash in the Ladies singles final at Wimbledon after registering easy victories in the semi-finals on Thursday. While Serena had things her way in a 6-2, 6-4 demolition of Germany's Julia Georges, Kerber beat Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3.
Images from Day 7 of the 2019 French Open in Paris on Saturday.
Australia's Samantha Stosur failed to allay fears she could be heading for another early exit at her home Grand Slam with a scrappy performance in Hobart while a trio of big names tumbled out of the Sydney International on Monday.
Images from Day 3 of the 2020 US Open in New York, on Wednesday.
Images from the French Open women's semi-final matches played at Roland Garros on Thursday
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances