Venus Williams survived a scare before beating Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki while Virginie Razzano got the better of Italian Flavia Pennetta in the semi-finals of the Japan Open.
American Sloane Stephens battled back to defeat defending champion Caroline Garcia at the Cincinnati Open.
Martina Hingis cruised but top seed Maria Sharapova had to work a little harder to secure opening victories at the Pacific Life Open.
The American continued her comeback from injury with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 16-year-old Dane Caroline Wozniacki.
It's the most popular Grand Slam across popular social networking sites
Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev stunned home favourite Kei Nishikori in Tokyo on Sunday, winning the final of the Japan Open 6-2, 6-4 in just over one hour.
Rafael Nadal looked razor sharp again during his latest meeting with qualifier Thiem
Images from the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.
Italian tennis ace Francesca Schiavone has said that she regards Serena Williams better than Steffi Graf after she drew within four Grand Slam titles of the former German great's Open-era record.
Simona Halep's brave Australian Open campaign but the exhausted Romanian hit a dead end in the final as she crumbled in a thriller against Caroline Wozniacki.
Federer, Djokovic headline Day 2 at Flushing Meadows
Reaching top of the world seemed to agree with Angelique Kerber, who celebrated her ascension to world number one with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday to advance to the US Open final.
Images from Day 6 of the French Open in Paris on Friday.
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.
- At 18 years and 109 days, Bencic is the youngest player to win a premier-level title since Caroline Wozniacki won in New Haven almost seven years ago - Uzbek Istomin wins men's title
Coco Gauff claimed the biggest win of her young career on Friday with a stunning upset of defending champion Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open to reach the fourth round. Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams also lost their respective matches earlier in the day. Images from Day 5 of the Australian Open played at Melbourne Park on Friday.
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Wednesday
Agnieszka Radwanska continued her pre-Wimbledon tune-up by reaching the final of Eastbourne grasscourt tournament with a 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-2 win over America's Sloane Stephens on Friday.
Key facts and records of American Serena Williams and Canada's Bianca Andreescu
Serena Williams and friend Caroline Wozniacki arranged a get-together in the US Open women's final, winning their Friday semi-finals in contrasting fashion on a stifling hot, humid day at Flushing Meadows.
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.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal is placed fourth in the list headed by American tennis legend Serena Williams followed by Maria Sharapova and elder sister Venus.
As Serena Williams sits out a fourth straight Grand Slam, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova will join Caroline Wozniacki in a quest for a major breakthrough in Australia.
Rediff.com takes stock of the seeded casualties on the first day of the Australian Open.
A summary of Thursday's play at the US Open.
Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska's title defence at the Sydney International lasted just 92 minutes when she was dumped out of the second round by Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Tuesday.
Here is a list of athletes, some of who just turned up the heat while some created ripples with their bold photos. Scroll down to find out who these athletes are...
Karolina Pliskova stormed to her second WTA title of the year, beating Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 6-4 in the Qatar Open in Doha on Saturday.
Home favourite Kei Nishikori defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6(2), 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Japan Open on Saturday, setting up a final against Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev.
Serena Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova remained on course for a heavyweight Madrid Open final.
Petra Kvitova will start the defence of her Wimbledon title next week with no competitive grasscourt practice after pulling out of the Aegon International at Eastbourne where she was top seed.
Naomi Osaka faces Zheng before possible meeting with Coco Gauff
Images from Day 5 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Friday.
Tennis star Serena Williams recently shared a selfie, showing off her killer cleavage and curves in a beachwear.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Other nominees for the prize are Angelique Kerber (Germany), Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic and Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark).
Of the top 15 on Forbes' list of best-paid female athletes, 12 were tennis players. Indian badminton player PV Sindhu came in tied for 13th ($5.5 million), with Thai golfer Ariya Jutanugarn ($5.3 million) rounding out the top 15.
Images from Day 4 of the US Open in New York on Thursday.
On a day when top seed Sloane Stephens survived a scare before beating Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, Sakkari showcased supreme court coverage skills throughout her almost two-hour match against Bertens.
Switzerland's Belinda Bencic became the first teenager in seven years to reach the top 10 of the WTA rankings after she climbed to ninth in the world on Monday.
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