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.
Three-times winner Serena Williams moved into the Toronto Open second round after beating Spain's Nuria Parrizas Diaz on Monday
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Paula Badosa of Spain, earned second-round wins
Sizzling hot Andy Murray roared into his seventh successive final with a commanding victory over Canadian Milos Raonic at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Saturday.
The ATP Tour got on board and last month fans were able to bid for private sessions with celebrated tennis coaches on-site during tournaments in 2021.
Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Johanna Konta progressed to the Italian Open semi-finals on Friday, but Roger Federer and Naomi Osaka were forced to withdraw with injury problems. World number one Osaka pulled out of her quarter-final meeting with Kiki Bertens due to a thumb injury before 37-year-old Federer announced his withdrawal because of a problem to his right leg.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza reached her second Wimbledon final in three years with a thumping 6-1, 6-1 win over Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova.
Venus Williams rallied from the disappointment of losing a tight first set to blast her way past Caroline Garcia 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3 and set up a WTA Finals title showdown against Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday.
The Romanian broke Williams's serve in the first game but that was the only one she managed for the rest of the opening set as the American bulldozed her way through the set in 20 minutes, serving it out with an ace.
Images from the matches played on Day eight of the 2018 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday
Petra Kvitova takes on Naomi Osaka in Saturday's Australian Open final with one of them set to emerge as a fresh champion at Melbourne Park.
'She's always smiling. I mean, we try in our team to smile everywhere. We make so many funny stuff around the court. She likes it'
Osaka remains on course for glory at Melbourne Park after blowing away Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-1 to set up a last four clash with Czech Karolina Pliskova in the year's first Grand Slam.
Wawrinka splits with long-time coach Norman
Angelique Kerber climaxed a dream season at the US Open on Saturday, performing as the champion she has become through hard work, patience and a love of the game.
One year after shaking off a crippling foot injury to claim a stunning US Open victory, Sloane Stephens said her follow-up season felt just as good as the American prepares to play in next week's WTA Finals for the first time.
The 27-year-old Romanian beat Sloane Stephens at Roland Garros to win her maiden Grand Slam title in June and will have spent 40 weeks at the top of the rankings by the end of the season.
Top-seeded Serena Williams said on Friday that she was not sure about the state of her balky right shoulder but felt more relaxed entering next week's US Open than last year.
Andy Murray took a step closer to a first title in arguably the toughest year of his playing career, grinding out a 3-6, 7-5 ,6-2 win over Ugo Humbert on Saturday to reach the final of the European Open in Antwerp.
Defending champions Indian Aces bounced back in style to beat Singapore Slammers 27-20 and record their second successive win in the Japan leg of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) season 2 in Kobe.
IMAGES from Day 6 of the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Saturday.
Images from the third day at the US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, in New York, on Wednesday:
Halep's near-flawless display at the All England Club marked a spectacular return to form after her world ranking dropped from first to seventh between mid-January and July.
Britain's Johanna Konta has learned much from matches against Grand Slam champions and former world number ones over the last 18 months but on Wednesday her education will be complete when she faces Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni could barely contain her joy after continuing her remarkable run at the Australian Open to reach her first grand slam quarter-final since the 1999 Wimbledon championships on Monday.
The World No 2 announced her commitment to the social media entrepreneur shortly before the New Year and while it was "great", she was pushing it to the back of her mind, at least until after Melbourne Park.
Images from Day 3 of the French Open matches played at Roland Garros on Tuesday
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.
The tournament, with eight players in both the men's and women's draw, will resemble regular tennis as much as possible.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Halep became the first Romanian to reach the summit of the women's rankings when she beat French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing, a feat she feels is the high point of her career to date.
'Maybe the last tournament changed something in people's minds but not in mine. I'm really enjoying every match but, still, I think I do have lot of things to improve'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
The 20-year-old, looking to become the first unseeded woman to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup since 1933, blazed her way to the final, hitting winners and errors with reckless abandon.
There was not an ounce of bitterness as Osaka accepted the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup from Asia's first Grand Slam champion Li Na
Images from Day 10 of the 2021 US Open in New York on Thursday.
The latest tennis rankings have been announced by the ATP and WTA
Images from the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.
A calm Sloane Stephens picked her shots to perfection to overcome Japan's Naomi Osaka in a battle between the last two US Open champions at the WTA Finals on Monday before top seed Angelique Kerber was upset by Kiki Bertens.
Twice Shanghai Masters champion Roger Federer was far from his best against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut but did enough to reach the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win on Thursday.
