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.
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.
Indian teen golfer Aditi Ashok shot a final round of three-under 69 on a weather-hit last day to notch up her second successive victory on the Ladies European Tour at the inaugural Qatar Ladies Open in Doha on Saturday.
Manchester United flirted with calamity before coasting into the Europa League last 16 as debutant Marcus Rashford helped them overcome an early blow with two goals in a 5-1 home victory over Midtjylland on Thursday.
arpreet Singh Bhatia slammed his second first-class ton to lead the Madhya Pradesh run-spree in the second innings and set Bengal an improbable 788 runs for a win in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinals on Saturday. The 24-year-old Bhatia notched up 139 in 206 balls, studded with 14 fours, to help MP pile on runs after resuming on overnight score of 338 for five. MP finally declared at a mammoth second-innings total of 560 for 9, just before tea on the fourth and penultimate day. Bengal, who conceded a huge first-innings lead of 227 after being bowled out for a meager 121, are on the verge of a defeat as they were struggling at 113 for three in 31 overs at the close of play.
No wonder Caroline Wozniacki could not stop hugging the trophy she referred to affectionately as 'Daphne' on Saturday after outlasting Simona Halep to win the Australian Open title.
Rediff.com presents the early surprises at the year's final Grand Slam
Two-time bronze medallist, P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth started their campaign at the World Badminton Champion with contrasting victories in the women's and men's singles competition respectively in Jakarta.
Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers have been recalled to South Africa's One-day international side for the visit of New Zealand later this month, but young wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock has been axed after a poor run of form in Bangladesh.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Moeen Ali took three wickets on Wednesday as England made quick work of securing victory in the first Test by bundling out South Africa for 174 before lunch and ensure a 241-run victory on the last day at Kingsmead.
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.
Former national champion Arvind Bhat entered the $120,000 German Open Grand Prix Gold finals after registering a thrilling three-game victory over Chinese Taipei's Tien Chen Chou in the men's singles in Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki have been enjoying an end of season break in a luxurious resort in the Bahamas. Both have been showing their fans some flesh, via their Instagram accounts.
Caroline Wozniacki overcame a mid-match wobble and withstood a barrage of big hitting to get her WTA Finals title defence back on track with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Petra Kvitova at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki ran the New York Marathon and completed the course in just over 3 hours and 30 minutes on a chilly Sunday.
Dale Steyn grabbed five wickets to lead South Africa to a convincing 204 run-victory over New Zealand in the second test at Centurion on Tuesday that sealed a 1-0 win in the series. Set an unlikely target of 400 to win the match, New Zealand were bowled out for 195 with a day to spare as South Africa kept in tact their record of never losing a series against the Kiwis.
German Nico Rosberg eased to victory in a chaotic Belgian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.
Ravindra Jadeja did the star turn with a five-wicket haul, after Ajinkya Rahane's brilliant century, as India took control of the fourth Test against South Africa by taking a commanding 213-run lead on the second day at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi, on Friday.
H S Prannoy stunned World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in straight games to storm into the men's singles quarterfinals but India suffered huge setback in women's event with both Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu crashing out of the Indonesia Super Series Premier in Jakarta on Thursday.
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.
Manchester United provided some blessed relief to under-fire manager Louis van Gaal by powering into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 romp at League One (third-tier) Shrewsbury Town.
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.
Saina Nehwal eschews the 'natural talent' tag thrust upon her by Indian media and says only hard graft and good coaching have given her the chance to turn the Olympic badminton bronze she won four years ago in London into gold at the Rio Games.
On a day dominated by pace bowlers from both sides, Madhya Pradesh held the upper hand over Bengal by taking a handsome first innings lead of 227 runs after skittling out the latter for a paltry 121 in their Ranji Trophy quarter-final, at the Brabourne Stadium, on Thursday.
Mercurial paceman Kagiso Rabada produced the second best match figures by a South African to propel his side to a consolation 280-run victory over a feeble England on the last morning of the fourth and final Test.
Former World No 3 Paul Casey was among a trio of players sharing the lead and Tiger Woods trailed six shots off the pace when darkness fell in the rain-hit Turkish Airlines Open first round on Thursday.
Firebrand fast bowler Kagiso Rabada bagged two wickets as South Africa reduced England to 52 for three at the close of day four of the final Test on Monday.
Alastair Cook posted his first half-century of the series with an unbeaten 67 as England closed day two of the final Test on 138 for two, still 337 runs behind South Africa at Centurion Park on Saturday.
A summary of Tuesday's action at the US Open.
Rediff.com takes stock of the seeded casualties on the first day of the Australian Open.
Ben Stokes claimed a wicket for England in the first session of the third cricket test at the Wanderers on Thursday, but South Africa dealt with the early swing from the bowlers and advanced to 73 for one at lunch. South African wicketkeeper Dane Vilas was forced to make a desperate dash to the ground, including a police escort from the airport, after being called up as a late replacement for the injured Quinton de Kock. Stiaan van Zyl was the only wicket to fall for South Africa as he top-edged an attempted pull straight up in the air and was caught by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow off Stokes' bowing for 21.
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki continued her revival by brushing aside Japanese teenager Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Pan Pacific Open for the second time and secure her first title of the year.
South Africa have named an unchanged squad for the remaining two Tests against England as AB de Villiers prepares to lead the five-day team for the first time in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Rio Olympics gold medallist Carolina Marin won her trump game after facing some anxious moments against Ashwini Ponnappa as Hyderabad Hunters defeated Bengaluru Smashers 4-3 in a sea-saw Premier Badminton League contest in Bengaluru on Saturday.
An unbeaten half century from Joe Root helped England into a commanding position on the third day of the first Test as they opened up a 261-run lead over South Africa on Monday.
Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro became the first player through to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open as she dug herself out of a hole to beat Estonian Anett Kontaveit 4-6, 6-4 ,8-6 on Sunday.
Mayank Agarwal's continued his dream run smashing a double hundred in company of centurion Prithvi Shaw as India 'A' flayed the South African bowling attack to reach 411 for two on the second day of the 'four day' Test.
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.
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.
