Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black lost to top seeds Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Peng Shuai of China in straight sets in the women's doubles final of the BNP Paribas Open, a Premier WTA tournament, at Indian Wells.
Serbia's Ana Ivanovic just missed out on a place in the semi-finals of the season-ending WTA Finals despite beating Simona Halep in the final group match on Friday.
Czech Lucie Safarova took the final qualifying spot for the end-of-season WTA Finals after Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro was knocked out of the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.
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.
Angelique Kerber showed more passion in the media centre than on the court when she crashed out of last year's WTA Finals, the German angered by the format and frustrated by her inability to win the set off an eliminated opponent she needed to advance.
World No 1 Serena Williams was handed the best possible draw for her WTA Finals title defence with the 33-year-old American grouped with two injury doubts and avoiding the in-form players.
Serena Williams shook off the rust and a feisty challenge from Serbia's Ana Ivanovic to open the defence of her WTA Finals title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the opening match of the elite eight-player tournament on Monday.
Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, battling it out for the world number one ranking, are the first two women to qualify for the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Singapore, the WTA said on Monday.
Becoming the WTA number one in the world is a dream come true'
American Stephens stayed calm and saw off an increasingly agitated Angelique Kerber in the winner-takes-all night match to complete round-robin play with a spotless 3-0 record after she wrapped up a 6-3, 6-3 victory against the German.
Maria Sharapova made light of her long injury layoff by advancing to the last four of the WTA Finals with an unbeaten record in round robin play after the Russian breezed past Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday, and booked a surprise passage to the semi-finals for Agnieszka Radwanska.
Daniil Medvedev jumped for joy in an uncharacteristically emotional celebration after holding off young Frenchman Arthur Fils for a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(7) win amid gusting winds on centre court in quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, on Thursday.
Maria Sharapova is renowned for her sheer determination in the face of adversity but in Singapore on Saturday, the Russian was quick to cast doubt over her chances of winning the WTA Finals after an injury-ravaged second half of the season.
The loss ends five-time major champion Swiatek's bid to become the first woman to win the tournament in the Southern California desert three times.
The top-seeded duo battled past the Rodionova sisters of Australia, Anastasia and Arina, 6-7, 6-3, 10-5 in their opening round match of the US $731,000 clay-court event.
Naomi Osaka has witnessed a huge change in her career after claiming a maiden Grand Slam title in 2018, but the rising star of women's tennis will not be changing her quirky personality in media appearances that has endeared her to so many.
After achieving the rare feat of being the World No. 1 in women's doubles for 80 consecutive weeks, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza has said it was very satisfying to be bracketed with the legends of the game.
In the absence of Sharapova, Colombia's Mariana Duque-Marino moves into the main women's draw of the tournament
The Dutchman collapsed on the court after converting his sixth match-point to end an absorbing three hour, seven minute affair under sunny skies on Stadium One court.
Elena Vesnina survived a battle of attrition and nerves to beat fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4 in the BNP Paribas Open final on Sunday and secure the biggest title of her career.
Naomi Osaka, who said at the U.S. Open that she planned to take a break from tennis, has officially pulled out of next month's BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
In the ATP doubles, Leander Paes slid to 25, a loss of four places.
China's Li Na made it a hat-trick of White Group victories, overpowering back-injury victim Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-1 on Friday to march through to the semi-finals of the WTA Championship.
Maria Sharapova rose to No. 2 in the rankings on Monday after her impressive title run at the BNP Paribas Open but says she is motivated much more by Grand Slam glory than the prospect of regaining the top spot.
The older Serena Williams gets, the more dominant she becomes. At 33, an age when most players start to fade, her grip on women's tennis looks as secure as ever.
Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina of Russia clinched their first title in just their third WTA event as a team, lifting the BNP Paribas Open women's doubles trophy after upstaging Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy.
Maria Sharapova had not completed a match since losing at Wimbledon in July, so the Russian was naturally thrilled to emerge with a victory at the WTA finals on Sunday after taking time to heal from a number of ailments.
IMAGES from the matches played on Day 10 of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, on Wednesday
The duo of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis sailed into the 10th final of the year at the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) Finals after beating Chinese Taipei's Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan in straight sets, in Singapore, on Saturday.
Photos from the tennis matches played at Indian Wells on Tuesday
Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis are in line to win their second title in a row as they breezed into the Miami Open final with a straight sets win over Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.
A misfiring Rafael Nadal had trouble hitting the mark but the third seeded Spaniard still had enough to beat American Donald Young 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday and advance to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Big-serving Czech Karolina Pliskova cruised into the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian teenager Darya Kasatkina on Thursday.
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.
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka took advantage of an error-prone display by Serena Williams to win her second BNP Paribas Open title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the final at Indian Wells in California.
Nick Kyrgios needs to improve his fitness to have a chance of winning Grand Slams, former world number one Jim Courier said on Wednesday.
Former tennis World No 1 Maria Sharapova will be holding a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday to make "a major announcement", though no other details were given by her manager on Sunday.
Twice winner Maria Sharapova and reigning champion Flavia Pennetta advanced to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday, though in sharply contrasting fashion.
Dominic Thiem defeated qualifier Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag
Cilic's booming serve lacked its usual accuracy and Germany's Kohlschreiber was able to control long rallies, pushing the towering Croatian around the court with pinpoint groundstrokes en route to a quick victory.
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