Sets up Venus tie on return after COVID-19 hiatus at the Top Seed Open.
Serena Williams showed glimpses of what lies in store for rivals this season
Serena Williams had no intention of sharing her pregnancy with the world last week but spilled the beans when she accidentally uploaded the photo of herself.
The five time US Open champion was given the loudest cheer at the Arthur Ashe stadium.
Angelique Kerber ended Johanna Konta's fairytale run at the Australian Open with a 7-5, 6-2 victory on Thursday to earn a place in her first grand slam final.
Serena returned from a maternity break to lose 6-2, 3-6, 10-5 to the 20-year-old Latvian.
Agnieszka Radwanska showed why she should be considered among the favourites for the Australian Open later this month by beating world number one Serena Williams in the final of the Hopman Cup in Perth on Saturday.
If Serena Williams' rivals were hoping that the American would take some time out to savour drawing level with Steffi Graf's professional-era record of 22 grand slam titles, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou fired off an immediate warning.
France's Alize Cornet beat a despondent Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Dubai Championships on Friday in what the world number 26 described as the biggest win of her career.
Following Serena Williams's win over Angelique Kerber for her 7th Wimbledon crown, here is a list of Wimbledon women's singles champions since 1922:
Serena Williams had been a vulnerable conqueror at this year's majors, living dangerously and dicing with defeat on numerous occasions as she tried to become only the fourth woman to complete the calendar Grand Slam.
US Open champion Naomi Osaka grew up dreaming of competing against Serena Williams in a Grand Slam final but never would have dared to go as far as to think her idol would be reduced to tears in a drama-filled match.
Serena Williams battered Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon on Tuesday, seizing on moments of weakness from the Russian to ram home her advantage.
Men's second seed Rafael Nadal starts against Israel's Dudi Sela while three-time champion Novak Djokovic faces American Tennys Sandgren.
Naomi Osaka battled past Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the Australian Open second round. Later, Osaka apologised at her press conference, calling her on-court comments 'disrespectful'.
Venus Williams's encouraging form at the Australian Open has given younger sister Serena cause to look over her shoulder after the siblings eased into the third round with straight-sets wins at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
Williams has just one professional tournament remaining before she drops the curtain on her historic career
Serena Williams, Bianca Andreescu and Roger Federer have also pulled out of the Grand Slam.
Williams and Hamilton have pledged an estimated 10 million pounds ($13.06 million) each to the bid.
Serena Williams thrashed unseeded Russian Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-0 to reach a ninth Wimbledon final on Thursday.
Serena had said on Monday that she "can't wait for the future" as she warmed up for her return to the WTA Tour at the Tie Break Tens exhibition at Madison Square Garden.
Former world number one Serena Williams returns to Grand Slam action for the first time in over 15 months, when she goes up against Czech Kristyna Pliskova in the French Open first round.
Williams, who has been outspoken in pushing for gender and racial equality, was asked in her post-match media conference whether she should focus more on her tennis than on social issues and being a celebrity.
Serena and Olympia look glamorous in hot pink dresses from the legendary fashion house Balmain.
Twitter lit up with reactions after Naomi Osaka defeated the American in a stormy final on Saturday:
Such has been Serena Williams's iron-fisted dominance of women's tennis that the American is one Wimbledon title away from achieving a 'Serena Slam' and halfway towards completing a rare calendar Grand Slam.
List of Wimbledon women's singles champions:
For the second straight year Serena Williams saw her bid for a seventh U.S. Open title halted in the semi-finals with a 6-2 7-6(5) loss to Karolina Pliskova on Thursday that also ended her long reign as world number one.
Separated in age by 25 years, their careers overlapped only briefly and Martina Navratilova, who herself won 18 Grand Slam singles crowns, never faced Serena Williams on a singles court.
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.
With no standout favourite in the women's field, it could provide an ideal stage for American Serena Williams to finally end her quest for an elusive 24th Grand Slam title.
The American ace beat Vera Zvonareva while US Open champion Kuznetsova accounted for Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals of the China Open.
Naomi Osaka continued her stunning run of form with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the first round of the Miami Open on Wednesday, the latest big win for the 20-year-old Japanese player.
Serena Williams beat her sister Venus 6-4, 6-4 in the Australian Open final on Saturday to win her 23rd grand slam singles title and become the most successful tennis player in the open era.
Serena Williams crashed out of the US Open after losing in the semi-final to Karolina Pliskova costing her a shot at a 23rd Grand Slam title and resulted in her losing her record 187th straight week at number one.
The 36-year-old has been practising hard on the grass and few would bet against her becoming the first mother to win the title since Evonne Cawley 38 years ago.
The duo hailed each other in the post-match interview before the tennis titans captured the iconic moment in what Hopman Cup on Twitter described as the 'greatest selfie of all time'.
Second seed Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Los Angeles Classic with a knee injury.
The 20-year-old is on the longest unbeaten run in the women's tour since Serena Williams bagged 34 victories in succession in 2013.
