Let battle commence, says Djokovic ahead of Nadal showdown
Earlier, title holder Borna Coric beat American Sebastian Korda 7-6 (5), 6-4, while another home hope Taylor Fritz survived a first-set thriller to beat Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-6 (14), 6-2.
Not since Stan Wawrinka's 2016 US Open triumph has a Grand Slam been won by someone other than the 'Big Three', winners of the last 13 major titles.
Sharapova was granted a wildcard entry to the last Grand Slam of the season but received a tough first-round draw in the shape of Romanian Halep.
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.
US Open champion Stephens again ended former world number one Victoria Azarenka's hopes of a fairytale comeback by beating her 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in an afternoon encounter, while French Open champion Ostapenko beat unseeded American Danielle Collins in the nightcap, staving off a set point en route to a 7-6(1), 6-3 triumph.
Djokovic will be nowhere near the centre court after losing his bid to overturn a second visa cancellation.
Thousands of mask-free spectators flocked into the stadium
Former World No 1 Roger Federer returned from a 10-week layoff with a 6-3, 6-4 second-round victory against Spain's Guillermo Garcia Lopez at the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday.
10 Interesting Glimpses from the French Open.
Japan has extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas until the end of May as the country battles a surge in COVID-19 cases
Medvedev tames claycourt demons to advance in Madrid.
Team Europe's Nadal was scheduled to take on Team World's Nick Kyrgios in his singles clash before partnering Swiss Federer to face John Isner and Jack Sock.
Images from Day 1 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday.
Three-times Roland Garros champion Mats Wilander reflects on Day 3 of the French Open for Reuters.
The two standout performers will meet after 21-year-old Greek debutant Tsitsipas eclipsed six-times champion Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 and Austrian Thiem dispatched defending champion Alexander Zverev 7-5, 6-3.
Djokovic has won the last three editions of Wimbledon in 2018, 2019 and last year
'My arm has been -- I have had an issue there for quite a while now. It has gotten bigger in the last couple of weeks, so I'm just trying to protect it.'
Images from Day 2 of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, on Tuesday.
After an Olympic stumble Novak Djokovic will get a second bite at history in the Big Apple with a calendar year Grand Slam there for the taking at the US Open.
Rafael Nadal rallied from a set down to ease past Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the Italian Open quarter-finals on Friday and set up a mouth-watering clash against long-time adversary Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday's final. Djokovic plotted a similar path to the Spanish clay-court king when the Serb lost the first set against Japan's Kei Nishikori before recovering to win 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 and seal an open-era record 51st career meeting against Nadal.
France, who were 2-0 up courtesy of Arthur Rinderknech and Adrian Mannarino, faced little resistance from Ecuador as wins for Benjamin Bonzi and the doubles pair of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicholas Mahut secured victory for the 10-times champions.
Roger Federer admits he suffered a "bit of a breakdown" during last month's tour of Mexico and South America after rioting in Colombian capital Bogota forced him to cancel his exhibition match against German's Alexander Zverev.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal remains on course for an 11th Monte Carlo Masters title after beating Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-1 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Friday's match was a straight shootout for a last-four place, with world number five Rublev the favourite having won his four previous matches against Ruud.
Last week the men's ATP and the WTA, which runs women's events, issued revised calendars for the resumption of the circuit from August while organisers of the US Open said the Grand Slam will be staged without fans as scheduled from August 31 to September 13 in New York.
Images from Day 9 at the French Open.
Medvedev opened as the +225 favorite at BetMGM but has seen his odds lengthen slightly despite the absence of two of his top threats. He has had a rollercoaster 2022 since falling to Nadal in the Australian Open final.
No complaints but quarantine differentials were a mistake: Zverev
Rafael Nadal's hopes of winning the year-ending ATP Finals for the first time live on after the Spaniard beat defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on Thursday.
The 35-year-old's first match back in action last week at the Stuttgart Open was a flop when he suffered a shock loss to German veteran Tommy Haas, ranked 302 at the time, despite leading for a set and a half.
Beaten twice by Nadal in the space of a month, in the Barcelona and Madrid Open finals, Thiem took his revenge by handing the 30-year-old Spaniard a first clay court defeat of the season in Rome.
Novak Djokovic will begin his Australian Open title defence against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while reigning women's champion Sofia Kenin meets wild card Maddison Inglis, following the draw for the year's first Grand Slam on Friday.
This year's Australian Open will be allowed to admit up to 30,000 fans a day, around 50% of usual capacity, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nadal, who would pass fellow Spaniard Andres Gimeno as the oldest Roland Garros men's singles champion if he wins, had to dig deep again in a three-hour slugfest in the semi-final against Alexander Zverev before the German was forced to retire mid-match after injuring his ankle.
Dominic Thiem will watch a treasured home movie of his recent win over Novak Djokovic at the season-ending ATP Tour Finals as he seeks inspiration to take down the defending champion Serb in the Australian Open decider.
Switzerland won their third Hopman Cup on Saturday as Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Germany's Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber 4-3(3), 4-2 in the deciding mixed doubles to secure a 2-1 victory in the final at the Perth Arena.
Third seed Stanislas Wawrinka became the latest high-profile casualty at the Italian Open on Thursday when the Swiss was knocked out in the third round by American John Isner.
Top seed Novak Djokovic beat Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 7-6(1) to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Friday and move within one win of 1,000 career victories.
Homeland favorite Ashleigh Barty and Serbia's Novak Djokovic are the top seeds for the upcoming Australian Open.
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