Serena, a six-times champion in New York who is seeded 17th, will start her campaign against Polish world number 60 Magda Linette and could face Venus in the third round before a possible fourth-round showdown with Romanian top seed Halep.
With professional tennis tours closed down until mid July at the earliest because of the coronavirus pandemic, an esports version of the claycourt event is being staged online. Nadal showed impressive fingerwork to beat young Canadian Denis Shapovalov in his opening round-robin match on a digital representation of the Spanish capital's Manolo Santana Stadium.
Ukrainian Svitolina came into the match riding high on a nine-match winning streak from the start of the season but, hampered by a hip injury, was completely outplayed by the aggressive Belgian on Rod Laver Arena.
Serena Williams had to dig deep to fend off Latvian challenger Jelena Ostapenko as she wrapped up Friday's play at the Fed Cup in Seattle with a hard-fought victory that gave the United States a 2-0 advantage. Williams' experience and savvy ways showed in critical moments against the 22-year-old Ostapenko as she prevailed 7-6(4), 7-6(3) in a match that took one hour and 46 minutes.
Rediff.com recaptures these and other exciting sporting moments from the week gone by....
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are top seeds at the major starting Monday
Britain's Andy Murray enjoyed a routine win over Argentina's Juan Monaco to ease into the third round of the tennis tournament at the Rio Games on Tuesday, while Spain's world number nine David Ferrer was knocked out.
Konta, Sharapova fall at Rogers Cup in Toronto
Riske created one of the biggest shocks of the tournament with her 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over French Open champion Barty who was on the sort of run that made losing to a player of the American's lowly 55th ranking appear almost impossible.
Former Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka began her warm-up to the first Grand Slam of the year in convincing fashion with a 6-2,6-0 win over Russian Elena Vesnina in their first round match at the Brisbane International on Monday.
As the players warm up before the tournament, meet the players who could well be contenders for the 2017 Australian Open titles.
Seven-time Italian Open winner Rafael Nadal lost 7-6(7), 6-2 to Stanislas Wawrinka.
Victoria Azarenka suffered a stunning meltdown and blew three match points against world number one Serena Williams before losing 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(1) in the third round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
The World No 4 is unfazed by rankings drop before Madrid tournament and the French Open.
Simona Halep is emerging as one of the few players on Tour.
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.
Big-serving Isner reaches Montreal second round
Djokovic, the ninth seed, was originally scheduled to play Australian Open semi-finalist Chung Hyeon but the 22-year-old South Korean withdrew with a back injury about an hour before the match was due to start.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova eased past defending champion Peng Shuai 6-3, 6-1 at the Tianjin Open on Saturday to reach her first WTA final in almost two and a half years.
Maria Sharapova's mix of grit and power were enough to see off American teenager Sofia Kenin 7-5, 6-2 in the third round of the US Open on Friday.
Asked which thoughts, the world number two from Constanta said: "The only one, very tough thought is one set, 3-0 up, that I couldn't take that game.
Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas secured the biggest win of his career when he sent Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic packing in the third round of the Rogers Cup with a stunning 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 win on Thursday.
Following the horrific collision during a Twenty20 match left two Surrey fielders injured, Rediff.com looks at the bizarre world of sports that can sometimes present unique oddities.
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.
Maria Sharapova's contentious and captivating US Open run came to an end on Sunday when Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova beat her 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Flushing Meadows quarter-finals.
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.
Novak Djokovic barely got out of first gear but had more than enough in the tank to beat Briton Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday.
Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova glittered under the Rod Laver Arena lights on Monday, restoring order at the Australian Open after eight women's seeds crashed out in the afternoon sun on a manic opening day. The evergreen Federer strolled into the second round with a classy 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 win over Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun before fellow-second seed Sharapova ruined Croatian qualifier Petra Martic's 24th birthday with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Croatian ninth seed Marin Cilic reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the third year running after Kei Nishikori quit with a rib injury midway through their fourth round match on Monday.
Czech fourth seed Tomas Berdych bulldozed his way into the second round of the French Open by thrashing Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 7-5, 6-3 on Monday.
Images from all the action from Day 1 of the Wimbledon on Monday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams advanced safely to the next round of the US Open on Saturday but the women's draw saw yet another big upset as Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova was sent packing by a 145th-ranked qualifier.
Images from Day 3 of the French Open matches played at Roland Garros on Tuesday
World number one Rafael Nadal set a new record of winning 50 consecutive sets on a single surface by beating Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the Madrid Open quarter-finals.
IMAGES from the PNB Paribas Open played at Indian Wells in California on Monday
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.
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.
The 36-year-old Swiss master needs only to reach the semi-finals at the ABN Amro tennis event to overtake Rafael Nadal at the top of the ATP rankings and become world number one for the first time since November 2012.
Nadal, playing his first match since losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semi-finals, fell behind 5-2 in the tiebreak before roaring back to prevail in his first career meeting with world number 53 Evans.
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