Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been named top seeds for the Australian Open starting on 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.
The apprehensions attached with a new tennis concept have disappeared as the top international players have embraced IPTL, feels Mahesh Bhupathi, whose league will feature a marquee match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the capital this season.
World number one Serena Williams was at her lethal best as she crushed Romanian Simona Halep 6-0, 6-4 to romp into the semi-finals of the Western and Southern Open on Friday.
Victoria Azarenka suffered a stunning meltdown and blew three match points against world number one Serena Williams before losing 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(1) in the third round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
Venus Williams got off to a flying start in her return from a two-month layoff but her game quickly fell apart as the seven-time Grand Slam champion slumped to a 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 loss to Kirsten Flipkens in the Rogers Cup first round on Tuesday.
Jelena Jankovic eased into the last four at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday when Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko retired from their quarter-final with an ankle injury while trailing 6-1, 4-1.
The signs that things were going horribly wrong for Roger Federer were laid bare at Roland Garros.
Serena Williams enters the Australian Open as a strong favourite to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup but is all too aware that a sixth Melbourne Park title has now eluded her for five years.
The 30-year-old is the first German woman to win Wimbledon since Steffi Graf in 1996.
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.
World number five Juan Martin del Potro began his 2014 season with a win, albeit a scrappy one over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut to advance to the quarter-finals of the Sydney International on Wednesday.
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 No 1 Serena Williams fought her way to a 7-5, 7-5 win over defending champion Li Na to reach the final of the Western and Southern Open on Saturday and close in on one of the few titles to elude her.
Photos from the matches played at the Miami Open on Tuesday
Wozniacki battles past Kerber into Eastbourne final
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.
As Russian Maria Sharapova and American Serena Williams get ready to slug it out in their big-ticket semi-final, records and history tells us who has had the upper hand.
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:
Serena Williams regained her composure after smashing her racquet and being on the brink of defeat to beat Caroline Wozniacki 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) on Saturday and reach the title match at the WTA Finals.
Caroline Wozniacki put a huge dent in Maria Sharapova's bid to finish the season as world number one by overcoming some distracting bright lights to down the Russian 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-2 in their marathon opening group match of the WTA Finals on Tuesday.
Photos from the matches played at the Miami Open on Monday
A long measure of Grand Slam patience paid off for Peng Shuai of China, who reached the semi-finals of the US Open on Tuesday by routing Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-1 in the Flushing Meadows heat.
Caroline Wozniacki upset French Open champion Maria Sharapova in a groundstroke marathon to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals, while Gilles Simon registered the first big surprise in the men's draw.
China's Li Na overcame an attack of nerves and weathered a feisty challenge from Dominika Cibulkova before roaring to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 victory to win her first Australian Open title on Saturday.
Photos from Day 1 of the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Monday
Ailing knees, Father Time and even a resurgent Victoria Azarenka stand in the way of Serena Williams clinching her seventh Australian Open title and giving her one more shot at an achievement that would cap her storied career.
The 28-year-old Belarusian returned to action in June, after the birth of her son Leo last December, and had been hopeful that legal arrangements could be worked out to allow her to compete in the August 28-September 10 grand slam in New York.
Garbine Muguruza continued her dream debut at the WTA Finals by completing round robin play with a perfect 3-0 record to advance to the semi-finals after a hard fought 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory over Petra Kvitova on Friday.
Novak Djokovic continued his Wimbledon preparations by beating American Donald Young 6-2, 7-6(9) on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the Aegon International tournament at Eastbourne.
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.
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.
Maria Sharapova joined Serena Williams in making an early exit from the Australian Open on Monday but defending champion Victoria Azarenka swept into the quarter-finals with an 18th straight victory at Melbourne Park.
Eugenie Bouchard's mid-season nosedive continued on Tuesday as the Canadian was swept aside 6-3 6-4 by Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic despite having home advantage and the backing of an excited crowd in a first round clash at the Rogers Cup.
It was a day of mixed fortunes for India at the French Open on Friday. Leander Paes sailed into pre-quarter-finals of the men's doubles, but Sania Mirza crashed out of the corresponding event for women. Sania and Taipei's Chia-Jung Chuang, seeded 14th, were knocked out 6-4, 6-7(5), 3-6 by the unseeded Polish pair of Agnieszka and Urszula Radwanska. Third seeds Paes and Lukas Dlouhy defeated James Cerretani and Sergiy Stakhovsky 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Kei Nishikori swept aside Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup.
The tension mounted and temperatures soared at the U.S. Open as top seed Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray set up a sensational quarter-final, and Serena Williams made a 2014 grand slam breakthrough.
Ukrainian second seed Elina Svitolina ended Naomi Osaka's remarkable recent run with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over the Indian Wells champion in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza moved to the brink of the WTA Finals last four with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Angelique Kerber on Wednesday after Petra Kvitova opened her account with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over fellow Czech Lucie Safarova.
The 36-year-old Australian Open champion arrived in the Dutch port city at the weekend knowing a run to the semi-finals will move him ahead of Rafael Nadal in the ATP standings.
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