Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska stayed patient in the face of a barrage of big serving to advance to the last four of the WTA Finals for the third time in a row with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova on Friday.
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.
With rain having washed out Wednesday's play, Federer along with champion Rafael Nadal and top seed Novak Djokovic all face playing back-to-back matches on Thursday if they want to reach the quarter-finals.
Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov edged out South Africa's Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) in a three-hour slugfest to claim his second career title with victory in the Acapulco International final on Sunday.
Maria Sharapova joined Serena Williams in making an early exit from the Australian Open on Monday but defending champion Victoria Azarenka swept into the quarter-finals with an 18th straight victory at Melbourne Park.
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.
Fourth seed Angelique Kerber's bid for consecutive Grand Slam titles ended when 29th seed Dominika Cibulkova defeated the German 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the US Open third round on Saturday.
The 24-year-old was staring at defeat while down a set and a break but dug deep to prevail in two hours 24 minutes for his 200th tour match victory and his 10th ATP title.
German Kerber has not won a title since and will now drop out of the world's top 10.
World number one Novak Djokovic received a free pass into the third round of the U.S. Open when Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic withdrew from their match on Wednesday due to a left forearm injury. The walkover provided the top-seeded defending champion with an extended break to improve his niggling left wrist injury before his next match against either Guido Pella of Argentina or Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.
Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova raced to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australian Daria Gavrilova to defend her Kremlin Cup title in Moscow on Saturday and secure a place at the season-ending WTA Finals.
The 25-year-old Dzumhur recovered from a poor start to beat the Briton 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and will bid to become the Balkan nation's first Tour winner in Saturday's title-decider against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut.
Venus Williams' return to Indian Wells lasted just one match but sister Serena looked poised for a long run after a dominant win at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday. Venus returned to the event for the first time since 2001, having boycotted it after being booed and heckled by fans during her previous trip, but made a quick exit after a 6-4 6-3 defeat to Japanese qualifier Kurumi Nara in the second round. The 15-year-old incident had occurred when Venus withdrew from a semi-final match with Serena, drawing ire from the crowd aimed at the Williams family. This time, though, Venus was greeted warmly by the crowd before her match and throughout it, a consolation for her poor performance. "It was enough of a fairytale to come here and play," Venus told reporters. "A win would have been nice, but that means I have to come back, play next year."
Top-seeded world number ones Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic help launch the US Open tennis championships on Monday's opening day of the year's final Grand Slam.
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.
The absence of expectant mother Serena Williams and a failure by any of the other top women to produce the kind of dominance the American seven-times champion has consistently delivered makes this year's Wimbledon the most open in years.
The exodus of seeded players has been so spectacular that only one of the top 10 remains -- number seven Karolina Pliskova.
World number four Stan Wawrinka began the new season with a straight-sets victory over Viktor Troicki in his Brisbane International debut on Wednesday. Second seed Wawrinka edged out Troicki 7-6(5) 6-4 to maintain his perfect record against the Serbian whose seventh attempt at beating the Swiss failed at the Pat Rafter Arena. "I'm quite happy with my level at the start the year," Wawrinka said.
He leads the men's seedings ahead of defending champ Roger Federer, with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov seeded third.
Serena Williams is playing at another level, says beaten Agnieszka Radwanska
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.
Angelique Kerber produced a polished display to claim her second straight win at the WTA Finals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Simona Halep on Tuesday, the world number one virtually booking a spot in the semi-finals of the elite eight-woman event.
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.
Serena Williams took some coaching advice from a fan during her fourth round match.
The fluorescent yellow outfit Victoria Azarenka wore as she dismantled Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open on Thursday was a one-word fashion statement -- loud.
Maria Sharapova rallied to beat Kaia Kanepi on Thursday and will meet Serena Williams in the Brisbane International semi-final knowing she must drastically improve to end her run of 13 straight defeats against the world number one.
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.
The 'Big Four' of men's tennis have made it into the second week of Wimbledon unscathed and largely untroubled while the women's draw remains wide open, but "Manic Monday" could offer major clues as to the destination of this year's titles.
Defending champion Petra Kvitova suffered a shock exit when unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea beat the Czech 4-6 7-5 6-2 on Friday to move in the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic is the top seed in the men's draw which includes five-times US Open champion and 17-times Grand Slam winner Roger Federer as seventh seed - his first time the Swiss has been placed outside the top three in a Grand Slam in over ten years.
Images from Day 6 of the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Saturday.
With a career Grand Slam of major titles and a sweet-making business, Maria Sharapova dismissed the idea of staying at home and having a drink.
The women's draw at the US Open has been in news for the upsets it created. Almost everyday one or some days even two of the top seeds feel to unknown players.
Serena Williams underlined the difference in class and power between her and the rest of the women's field with a 6-0, 6-4 demolition of fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday to reach her seventh Australian Open final.
'Right now I think that I have to find to myself again and just trying to forget the clay court season as soon as possible'
The latest tennis rankings have been announced by the ATP and WTA
Tennis star Maria Sharapova said on Tuesday she is excited about her return to competition next month, feeling vindicated by the reduction of her doping suspension and empowered by her time away.
Rafael Nadal easily avoided the embarrassment of a back-to-back first round exits at the Australian Open on Tuesday, ramping up his serve and rattling off 39 winners to beat Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena.
Johanna Konta earned the chance to fulfill a childhood dream when she advanced to an Australian Open quarter-final contest against Serena Williams by dismantling Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-4 on Monday.
Williams, a record 23-times Grand Slam champion, will be returning to the All England Club for the first time since giving birth to her daughter last September.
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