In a sensational turnaround, the unseeded Frenchman toppled the world number six from Croatia 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a gripping semi-final encounter.
Less than a month after her run to the Wimbledon final, where she lost to Spain's Garbine Muguruza, 37-year-old Williams again had to turn back time against a young challenger.
Here is a timeline of Djokovic's decline since the last of his 12 Grand Slam titles.
Third seed Stan Wawrinka was knocked out in the third round of the Paris Masters when he lost 6-7(2), 7-5, 7-6(3) against South African Kevin Anderson on Thursday, suffering his fourth defeat in five matches.
Raucous home support for holders Argentina did not make up for the absence of Juan Martin del Potro and Federico Delbonis on Friday as they fell 2-0 behind to Italy in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Novak Djokovic wore down Lucas Pouille after an even first set, dispatching the Frenchman 7-6(2), 6-1 in a Cincinnati Masters quarter-final in Ohio on Friday.
Ferrer, 37, announced earlier in the year he would end his 19-year career at the Madrid Open and prolonged his time on court by a day by beating Roberto Bautista Agut on Tuesday, but was easily overpowered by world number four Zverev.
A clinical Roger Federer took a confident step towards a fourth Miami Open title on Wednesday, easing past 13th-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-2 to book a spot in the quarter-finals.
Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic gave Australia an unwanted reputation as a breeding ground for tennis brats during a tempestuous 2015 and the pair will be firmly under the spotlight in front of home crowds at Melbourne Park. With former world number one Lleyton Hewitt set to retire and the last of his two grand slam titles at the 2002 Wimbledon championships a distant memory, Australia has long yearned for a new force in men's tennis to challenge at the majors. Tomic, 23, and Kyrgios, 20, have both been tagged as the future of the sport in the country but the excitement generated by their undeniable talent gave way to dismay last season as the pair hogged the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Ramkumar Ramanathan's good run at the Chennai Open continued as he combined with compatriot N Sriram Balaji to knock out fourth seeded Kiwi pair of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniel on Wednesday and storm into the doubles quarter-finals.
Defending champion Petra Kvitova used a dominant serve to beat Lucie Safarova 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2 in their all-Czech final at the Connecticut Open on Saturday.
Unseeded Novak Djokovic was given some trouble by Jeremy Chardy in the opening set but prevailed 7-6(5), 6-4 to take his record over the Frenchman to 11-0 and 26-0 in sets.
hampion Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic turned in impressive displays to reach the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals on Thursday. Nadal, chasing a record-extending 12th Monte Carlo title, broke Grigor Dimitrov's serve on four occasions to defeat the Bulgarian 6-4 6-1.
A summary of sports events and sports persons who made news on Sunday.
Defending champion Serena Williams is the top seed in the women's draw. The American will be looking to equal Steffi Graf's Open era record by sealing a 22nd Grand Slam triumph.
Fans spent more time looking at the murky Parisian sky than watching tennis on Tuesday as French Open organisers were accused of "not caring about the players" after the event was disrupted by more rain following the previous day's washout.
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.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer remain on course for a marquee one-two clash in the men's US Open final, but each must first vanquish a formidable opponent and friend in Friday's semi-finals at Flushing Meadows.
World number one Rafael Nadal won a battle of attrition against fellow left-hander Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 7-6(4), 6-4 to seal Spain's spot in the final eight of the inaugural ATP Cup in Perth on Wednesday. Meanwhile his long-time rival, world number two Novak Djokovic, had an easier outing in Brisbane, strolling past Chile's Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-3 to stay undefeated in the new year.
Defending champion Sloane Stephens was sent packing from the Miami Open on Sunday after a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Germany's Tatjana Maria in the third round.
Canada beat USA to enter quarters, Argentina overpower Chile in opening tie
IMAGES of the all the action from Day 2 of the Australian Open played at Melbourne Park on Tuesday
Photos from the matches played at the Miami Open on Monday
Images from Day 9 of Wimbledon at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, on Wednesday.
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic's hopes of turning around his season at the Miami Open ended in the second round when he was defeated 6-3, 6-4 by Frenchman Benoit Paire.
Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov crushed second seed Dominic Thiem and third seed Alexander Zverev respectively to set up an all-Russian semi-final at the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Friday.
Wozniacki battles past Kerber into Eastbourne final
Venus Williams staged a spirited comeback to down third seed Petra Kvitova 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Saturday.
Home sensation and wild card entrant Yuki Bhambri sprung a surprise by upsetting higher-rated Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain to enter the second round even as compatriot Somdev Devvarman made a shocking first round exit at the ATP Chennai Open.
India ended its campaign at the Fed Cup with a fourth place finish after losing the classification tie 1-2 to Korea as the team badly missed injured Karman Kaur Thandi, who did not play on Saturday, in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Images from Day 4 of the 2021 French Open in Paris on Wednesday.
Tatsuma Ito and Michal Przysiezny claimed the biggest wins of their careers at the Japan Open on Tuesday when the local wildcard knocked out top seed Stan Wawrinka and the Polish qualifier saved match points to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
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.
The Russian five-times Grand Slam champion struggled for rhythm initially on the low-bouncing grasscourt at the Mallorca Open but picked up the pace to beat Viktoria Kuzmova 7-6(8), 6-0.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
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.
Images from Day 2 of the 2022 Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The last 10 Slams have all been won by Djokovic, Federer or Nadal. Will this Wimbledon be different, asks Dhruv Munjal.
Images from Day 5 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Friday.
Roger Federer faced down local battler John Millman 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8) in a five-set thriller on Friday night to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open. Defending champion Novak Djokovic thumped Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday to stay on course for a record-extending eighth title at Melbourne Park. Images from Day 5 of the 2020 Australian Open.
