Simone Biles claimed a record-equalling 23rd medal at the gymnastics world championships on Saturday, leading an American one-two finish in the vault final in Stuttgart.
Victoria Azarenka is relishing her return to Melbourne Park as double defending champion and while Serena Williams is a hot favourite to deny her a hat-trick of titles, the Belarusian says she will not focus solely on the challenge from the World No 1.
The league has proved an unlikely draw for fans overseas who are starved of matches in their own countries. In choosing to stay open, it took its cue from President Alexander Lukashenko, who has resisted imposing strict lockdown measures.
Extreme Winter Sports have so far been the domain of the young and hip at the Sochi Winter Games, but on Friday a trio of 'thirty-somethings' dominated the women's aerials event.
'This has been an emotional week and I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support.'
Paes-Shamsasdin also in last four
Victoria Azarenka's hopes of a remarkable comeback Australian Open victory crumbled under Angelique Kerber's winners on Wednesday but the Belarusian was pleased with solid three weeks Down Under that made her feel she had turned a corner.
Victoria Azarenka's love affair with New York's hardcourts is starting to get serious. The Belarusian is so smitten with Flushing Meadows that she now thinks of them as an old lover.
Silent assassin Agnieszka Radwanska ended Victoria Azarenka's bid for a hat-trick of titles at Melbourne Park on Wednesday and reached her maiden Australian Open semi-final with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 win.
A look at the top women's contenders at the 2020 French Open.
Victoria Azarenka won a showdown between the world's two top players by beating number one Serena Williams in a three set 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 thriller in the final of the Western and Southern Open on Sunday.
Naomi Osaka ended Victoria Azarenka's dream run to claim her second US Open title in three years with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback win on Saturday which cemented her status as the sport's leading light both on and off the court.
Victoria Azarenka refuses to accept that Maria Sharapova's greater experience could be the defining factor when they meet in the Australian Open women's final on Saturday.
Images from Day 9 of the 2021 US Open in New York on Wednesday.
Accused of gamesmanship and dogged by injury, Victoria Azarenka's bid for successive Australian Open titles on Saturday will pit her against an opponent in the form of her life and a centre-court crowd wary of any hint of bad sportsmanship.
IMAGES from Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Friday
Victoria Azarenka holds a 5-4 record over Li Na and has won their last four matches, however, the Chinese is 2-0 up in Grand Slam encounters.
China's Li Na declined to pass judgement on Victoria Azarenka's controversial medical time-out during her Australian Open semi-final match, but said she would not do it herself when match points were at stake.
World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka has denied claims that she deliberately manipulated the rules book when she took a medical time out with the score at 5-4 in the second set of her Australian Open semi-final win over teenager Sloane Stephens.
Victoria Azarenka will carry her World No 1 ranking with pride in the defence of her Australian Open title, but knows she faces a grim task preventing Serena Williams seizing both.
Australian Open champion and top seed Victoria Azarenka recovered from a sluggish start to beat Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-1 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday.
A summary of Wednesday's action at the US Open.
A number of football leagues around the globe will resume after the COVID-19 stoppage in the coming weeks but the matches will be played without fans.
Images from Day 4 of the 2021 French Open in Paris on Wednesday.
American Serena Williams reached the semi-finals at the WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul on Thursday with what is fast becoming a routine defeat of World No 1 Victoria Azarenka.
World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova stayed on track for a mouth-watering showdown in the final of the Indian Wells WTA tournament while defending champion Caroline Wozniacki was beaten by Ana Ivanovic on Tuesday.
American Michelle Carter stunned champion Valerie Adams with a throw of 20.63 meters on her final attempt to win Olympic shot put gold and deny the New Zealander a third successive title on Friday.
The Indian pair of Leander Paes and Sania Mirza were down 5-7, 2-3 in their mixed doubles tennis quarter-final against the Belarusian pair of Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka when play was suspended for the day because of bad light.
Serena Williams was forced to dig deep to secure a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 US Open quarter-final victory over unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday, keeping alive her latest bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title.
Both will play their second-round singles matches on Thursday.
Top seed Victoria Azarenka charged ominously into the fourth round of the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Sunday while third-seeded Petra Kvitova made an unexpected early exit.
India's Leander Paes and Elena Vesnina of Russia fought their way to the mixed doubles semi-finals of the French Open with a thrilling 4-6, 7-5, 10-5 victory over Max Mirnyi of Belarus and American Liezel Huber.
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.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna sealed a place in the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour Finals after getting the better of the second-ranked Belarusian-Canadian pair of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor at the O2 Arena in London on Friday. In a tense Group B match that could have gone either way, the world No 5 Indian duo prevailed 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 10-5 in an hour and 55 minutes.
Victoria Azarenka became the first Belarusian to win a Grand Slam singles title when she claimed the Australian Open title with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Russia's Maria Sharapova on Saturday.
World number one Victoria Azarenka's 26-match winning streak finally came to an end on Wednesday with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat to France's Marion Bartoli at the Sony Ericsson Open.
World number one Victoria Azarenka stretched her unbeaten run to 24 matches this year while Venus Williams ousted Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami on Friday.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has played down this weekend's 'clasico' match at Real Madrid by saying a European Union summit meeting on Friday and moves to save the Euro were much more significant.
Fourth seed Maria Sharapova overcame a second set rally by Petra Kvitova to advance to her third Australian Open final with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory on Thursday. She will now meet third seed Victoria Azarenka in the final on Saturday after the Belarusian earlier beat 2011 champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Vesnina advanced to mixed doubles quarter-finals of the Wimbledon championships after quelling a late challenge from Eric Butorac and Olga Govortsova in London on Wednesday.
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