The Australian Open started with a bang and the stars weren't hard to miss, as most of them were seen wearing loud colours at Melbourne Park.
Under the lights on the stadium court, Williams smashed 39 winners to defeat Azarenka 7-5, 6-3 in a rematch of the 2016 final, which the Belarusian won.
Naomi Osaka pulled out of the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament on Wednesday in New York City, in protest at racial injustice. Her decision follows protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday.
Images from the Australian Open semi-final played in Melbourne on Thursday.
Serena Williams was sent spinning out of the Western and Southern Open by Maria Sakkari on Tuesday after the Greek rallied from a set down to beat the 23-times Grand Slam champion 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-1 and reach the quarter-finals.
Serena Williams shook off some COVID-19 layoff rust to grind out a 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-6(0) win over Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus on Monday to move into the third round of the Western and Southern Open.
American 15-year-old Cori Gauff stole the show on the opening day of Wimbledon with a debut victory over five-time champion and her inspiration Venus Williams.
Check out the celebrities who attended the US Open women's final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday.
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.
Australia's gruelling summer conditions claimed three more victims on Monday when Vera Zvonareva, Victoria Azarenka and Marion Bartoli all pulled out of the Sydney International because of injury and illness.
A pumped up Maria Sharapova overcame Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the LA Championships on Wednesday.
Following is a list of American Serena Williams' 22 grand slam singles titles as she equalled Steffi Graf's professional era record with victory at Wimbledon on Saturday
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.
Sania Mirza and her partner Chia-Jung Chuang advanced to the semifinals of the USD 4,500,000 Madrid Open after Russian-Belarussian duo of Victoria Azarenka and Elena Vesnina conceded their quarterfinal match in Madrid.
Sania Mirza and her partner Chia-Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei have upset second seeded Spanish pair of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual to enter the women's doubles quarterfinal of the Madrid Open event.
World number five Alexander Zverev continued his poor recent form as he crashed out of the Italian Open in the second round while Serena Williams had to pull out of the women's draw with a recurring knee injury.
BNP Paribas Open chief executive and tournament director Raymond Moore provoked outrage with controversial comments he made before the women's and men's finals at Indian Wells, and later issued an official apology.
Former world number one Serena Williams looked sharp in her return to the hardcourts after a week-long break, soundly defeating Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2 on Monday to advance to the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.
Nadal committed 30 unforced errors to Schwartzman's 17 and had his serve broken five times.
Serena Williams remains on course for a record sixth win at the Sony Ericsson Open after beating sister Venus 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a final meeting with 19-year-old Belarusian Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka defeated Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in Thursday's other semi-final to book her place in a top tier final for the first time.
Challengers to Serena Williams' throne have proved as fickle as a Paris spring and as the year's second grand slam starts the veteran American is again seemingly in a league of her own. The 34-year-old's charge to overhaul Margaret Court's record 24 grand slam singles titles may have stalled since she chalked up major number 21 at last year's Wimbledon. But after fine-tuning her claycourt game by winning last week's Italian Open she will begin the defence of her French Open title as the strong favourite. With twice French Open champion Maria Sharapova suspended pending the findings of an anti-doping hearing after she tested positive for Meldonium in Australia this year, the list of players capable of toppling a fully firing Williams is short.
Opelka, Kyrgios included in Team World for Laver Cup.
Jennifer Brady spent two weeks in hard quarantine gathering mental strength for her tilt at a maiden Grand Slam title and will hope there is plenty in reserve when she takes on Naomi Osaka in Saturday's Australian Open final.
China's Li Na celebrated her comeback from injury with a 4-6 6-3 6-4 triumph over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus to win the Australian Hardcourt Championships in Gold Coast on Saturday.
Both are in superb form and have yet to drop a set at this year's championship. Britain's Murray, the number one seed, will face 28th ranked Fabio Fognini from Italy while Spaniard Nadal will go up against Russian Karen Khachanov, ranked 30.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza beat Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 to win the French Open on Saturday and claim her first Grand Sam title. Take a look at the career of the 22-year-old.
Former world number one Novak Djokovic showed signs of a return to form with an impressive 7-5, 6-4 victory over Japan's Kei Nishikori in the opening round of the Madrid Open on Monday.
Defending champion Djokovic fired his 15th ace on match point to defeat Querrey but his serve had been an issue earlier in their second-round encounter.
Serena Williams and Ekaterina Makarova sprinted into the semi-finals of the U.S. Open on Wednesday but marathon man Kei Nishikori had to go the distance to upset Stan Wawrinka and become the first Japanese man into the last four of a grand slam in 81 years.
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.
Raducanu falls in first match since US Open triumph.
Images from Day 8 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday.
PHOTOS from day seven of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Monday
The pair beat Liezel Huber of USA and Jamie Murray of UK 6-7, 7-6, 10-5 in the semi-finals.
American tennis ace Serena Williams has maintained her No 1 spot, while German Angelique Kerber has slipped to the third in the latest women's tennis world rankings issued by the WTA.
The third seeded Indian ace got the better of Hana Sromova in a second round match.
The seventh-seeded Bulgarian advanced to his eighth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Del Potro, who struggled with the intense heat in the closing stages of the one hour, 39 minute match.
Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic fired 19 aces to topple Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4 and set up a second-round clash with either Dan Evans or Russian 10th seed Andrey Rublev.
'When she hits her peak she's so dangerous because she moves well.'
Looking to improve her claycourt skills, she spent a bit of time at 11-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal's academy.
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