Unseeded Elise Mertens has extended a breakout year to storm into the semi-finals of her Australian Open debut by keeping a cool head and honing her technical skills.
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.
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.
Serena Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova remained on course for a heavyweight Madrid Open final.
"I think she will win a Grand Slam. Which one and when I don't know, but definitely clay is a good surface for her."
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.
US Open champion Naomi Osaka fought back tears and rallied from a set down to outlast Zhang Shuai 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the China Open quarter-finals on Friday.
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.
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.
Naomi Osaka emerged as a fresh champion at Melbourne Park as well as the new World No 1 on Saturday.
Images from the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis has said that Li Na's retirement was a loss to world tennis, while also crediting the Chinese ace of raising the game's profile in her home country and across Asia.
Andy Murray is more afraid of losing his wedding ring than a tennis match these days but that did not stop him from storming to a 10th successive win on clay at the Rome Masters on Wednesday.
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.
World number one Serena Williams was at her lethal best as she crushed Romanian Simona Halep 6-0, 6-4 to romp into the semi-finals of the Western and Southern Open on Friday.
Images from Day 5 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Friday.
Images from Day 4 of the US Open in New York on Thursday.
The 23-year-old Wimbledon champion, who climbed to the top of the WTA rankings on Monday, hardly broke sweat against the Frenchwoman, ranked 20th in the world, on her way to victory in an hour and 20 minutes.
Rafael Nadal swept into the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday with a ruthless 6-4, 6-1 victory over Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov. The top seed, who will reclaim the world number one ranking from Roger Federer if he wins his eighth title in Rome, turned in a near-flawless performance, losing only five service points as he honed in on victory in an hour and 22 minutes.
Russia's Elena Vesnina ousted German second seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California on Tuesday.
Rediff.com presents matches that shook up US Open.
Roger Federer is one win from becoming the oldest world number one in ATP Tour history after beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6(8), 7-5 in the last 16 of the Rotterdam Open on Thursday.
A summary of Tuesday's play at Wimbledon.
Serena Williams will be wary of another semi-final slip-up when she takes to the Arthur Ashe Stadium court on Thursday to face 10th seed Karolina Pliskova for a spot in the US Open final.
IMAGES from the PNB Paribas Open played at Indian Wells in California on Monday
The 28-year-old said beating American great Williams was the finest win of her career, outstripping her upset of world number one Ash Barty at last year's US Open.
Can World No. 1 Simona Halep thrive at the All England Club? Or will Serena Williams add to her seven Wimbledon titles?
The draw for the first Grand Slam of the season was made on Thursday and the top seeds could face some early tests of their credentials when play gets underway in Melbourne on Monday.
The signs that things were going horribly wrong for Roger Federer were laid bare at Roland Garros.
The lanky wild card kissed the Montreal court after completing a rousing 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) triumph as the 18-year-old became the youngest player to ever reach the quarter-finals of an ATP Masters 1000 event.
Rafael Nadal extended his astonishing winning run on clay to 42 consecutive sets as he reached the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Slovakia's Martin Klizan on Friday. The defending champion will face David Goffin on Saturday after the Belgian beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2.
Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza notched up her first ever victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 6-0, 6-3 win over American Varvara Lepchenko at the US Open on Monday.
Serena Williams is chasing Australian Margaret Court's record 24 Grand Slam singles titles
Venus Williams gained revenge for her Wimbledon final defeat by Garbine Muguruza when the American advanced to the last four of the WTA Finals with a gutsy 7-5 6-4 victory over the Spanish world number two on Thursday.
Maria Sharapova recovered from a second-set meltdown to record her first victory at this year's WTA Finals with a 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-2 triumph over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanksa on Friday but the Russian still bowed out of the elite eight-woman tournament.
Nick Kyrgios clinched his maiden tour title on home soil in a big confidence boost ahead of the Australian Open, beating Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-2 in the Brisbane International final.
Two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka crashed out of the French Open in the first round losing 5-7, 5-7 to Katerina Siniakova on Monday, playing only her fifth tournament of the year after a legal battle over the custody of her son.
A summary of Tuesday's action at the US Open.
Wozniacki battles past Kerber into Eastbourne final
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