Caroline Wozniacki rolled up her sleeves and battled back from a set down to defeat Francesca Schiavone of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at the WTA Championships on Thursday, sewing up the year-end world number one ranking.
Get your low down on what's happening in the world of Hollywood, right here!
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki outfought Russia's Elena Dementieva 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 to win the Pan Pacific Open on Saturday. Victory in the $2 million tournament means the Dane can leapfrog Serena Williams at the top of the world rankings if she reaches the quarter-finals at the China Open in Beijing next week.
Williams had little trouble against the 31-year-old German although the gusty breezes at Auckland Tennis Centre played havoc with her ball toss, especially when she was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set.
Elena Dementieva has pulled out of next week's Wimbledon because of a calf injury, the Russian world number five said on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Muscovite suffered the injury during the French Open, forcing her to retire from her semi-final earlier this month against eventual winner Francesca Schiavone.
The Indian ace, who made it to the main draw of the Family Circle Cup through the qualifying rounds, won the first set 6-2, but failed to sustain the pace in the next two sets, which she lost 2-6, 2-6.
Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic, two of the nearly women of the game, will bid for another crack at Grand Slam glory in the French Open semi-finals on Thursday.
Sania Mirza staged a strong recovery after losing the first set to beat Alison Riske of the United States and enter the second round of the Family Circle Cup on Monday. The Indian ace won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 and set up a meeting with Vania King of the United States.
The showdown will see world number one Serena Williams try to equal Steffi Graf's professional era record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, while Angelique Kerber will seek to become the first German woman to lift the Wimbledon singles crown since her idol Graf 20 years ago.
Sania Mirza entered the third round of the Guangzhou International women's tournament, shocking third seed Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan on Wednesday. The unseeded Indian ace, who lost in the second round of the US Open after making it through the qualifying rounds, won 6-4, 6-3.
Prajnesh, India's top-ranked singles player at 122, downed the local wild card Jason Kubler 7-5, 6-3 in the first round
You'll be surprised, but India is one of them!
India's Sania Mirza advanced to the second round of the US Open qualifiers after defeating Ksenia Lykina of Russia 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday.
The Czech Republic defended their Fed Cup title on Sunday as Karolina Pliskova became the home team's hero with a starring performance in their thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Russia.
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and her fellow Russian Elena Dementieva won their opening round matches at the Sydney International Sunday, one of the major lead-up events to the Australian Open.
The female touch has brought a little more fun into the routine of former world number one Ana Ivanovic as she tries to claw her way back up the world rankings.
Russia's Elena Dementieva lost 6-1, 6-3 to compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round of the rain-hit Cincinnati Open on Wednesday, but Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters both advanced to the third round.
Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva breezed into the quarter finals of the Stanford Classic on Wednesday, crushing their second-round opponents with equal efficiency.
Serena and Venus Williams' stranglehold of women's doubles was ended at Wimbledon on Wednesday when the American sisters were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina.
It took Kim Clijsters a few minutes to familiarise herself again with the layout at Wimbledon after a four-year absence. Once on court though, the returning Belgian wasted little time in swatting aside Italian Maria Elena Camerin 6-0, 6-3 to ease into the second round on Monday.
Sara Errani romped to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Alisa Kleybanova in Cagliari to hand Italy an unassailable 3-0 lead over Russia and their third Fed Cup title in five years on Sunday.
Images from Wednesday's men's and women's singles matches at the Australia Open in Melbourne.
Russia's Elena Dementieva defeated a hobbling Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2 at the Olympic tennis centre on Friday to win the Sydney International for the second year in a row.
Elena Dementieva and Melanie Oudin won their opening singles matches on Saturday to leave the Fed Cup semi-final between Russia and the United States tied at 1-1.
Alisa Kleybanova beat top seed Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2 in a rain-disrupted all-Russian final to claim her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open on Sunday.
World number one Serena Williams marched into the semi-finals of the WTA Championships on Thursday with a comfortable win over Elena Dementieva while sister Venus kept her title hopes alive long after midnight.
Education in Russia is affordable and offers some attractive incentives, especially for prospective med students.
London Olympic champion and world record holder Elena Lashmanova of Russia continued her dominance, clinching gold in the 20km walk race at the 14th IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow on Tuesday.
Fifth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur saved four match points in a thrilling third set and came back to beat Russian Elena Dementieva 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 to reach the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open on Sunday.
Russia's Elena Dementieva became the latest high-profile casualty at the Pan Pacific Open when the third seed was upset by Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round on Tuesday.
Comeback queen Justine Henin issued an ominous warning to her rivals at the Australian Open by knocking out Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva 7-5, 7-6 in the second round on Wednesday.
Serena Williams survived a scare from France's Aravane Rezai on Thursday before booking her spot in the Sydney International final against Russian Elena Dementieva. The Australian Open champion was teetering on the brink of defeat after losing the first set and trailing 5-2 in the second but she raised her game to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.
World number one Dinara Safina sailed through to the Slovenia Open quarter-finals when she beat fellow Russian Ksenija Pervak 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday.
Serena Williams stands just one match away from setting up another family showdown in the Wimbledon final after she hurtled into the last four with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Belarussian Victoria Azarenka on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old American romped to a 5-0 lead against Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska and completed a 6-1 6-2 victory on auto-pilot as slumbering Court One fans applauded politely in temperatures soaring into the 30s Celsius again.
Marta breaks Klose record in Brazil win
World number two Rafa Nadal stopped Marat Safin's Beijing revival in its tracks on Friday with a clinical 6-3, 6-1 victory to reach the semi-finals of the $6.6-million China Open.
Elena Dementieva overpowered Serena Williams 6-3, 6-1 at the Sydney International on Thursday to set up an all-Russian final against Dinara Safina.
Russia won their third successive Olympic rhythmic gymnastics group gold with two dynamic and intricately choreographed routines on Sunday. Their flawless exhibition of agility and dexterity earned them 35.550 points, 0.325 more than surprise silver medallists China. Belarus took the bronze.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances