Fritz delivers as US win inaugural United Cup crown
A round-up of all tennis action on Saturday.
Naomi Osaka settled her nerves and stepped up her preparations for the Australian Open by beating Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-2 to reach the last 16 of the Gippsland Trophy warm-up tournament in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Check out the various outfits that caused controversy during the tournament.
While the stakes could not be higher on Thursday, Sloane Stephens said there will be no "weirdness" in the locker room.
Angelique Kerber's build-up for next week's Australian Open suffered a setback with the German world number one going down in straight sets to Russian teenager Daria Kasatkina in the second round of the Sydney International.
Former world number ones Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic endured a humbling start to the season after the top two seeds were dumped out of the Auckland Classic in the first round by unheralded opponents.
Next up for the 35-year-old will be another American in 39th-ranked Tommy Paul with a potential semi-final clash against top-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev, who he defeated in the Australian Open final from a two-sets deficit.
Playing in his first competitive singles match on the ATP Tour since August 5, the 20-times Grand Slam champion showed no signs of rust in his second round win against Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis.
Nadal had a solid start, but the 35-year-old struggled physically towards the end of the contest
Defending champion Sloane Stephens was sent packing from the Miami Open on Sunday after a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Germany's Tatjana Maria in the third round.
Petra Martic kept her composure to advance to the Round of 16
IMAGES from matches on Day 9 at the French Open at Roland Garros
Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis went through several anxious moments before getting past Russian girls Daria Kasatkina and Alexandra Panova in their opening doubles match at the French Open on Wednesday. The reigning Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champions prevailed 7-6(4), 6-2.
'Everyone thinks it was a money-related issue, but it wasn't'
Russian Daria Kasatkina will replace Sharapova in the main draw
Other nominees for the prize are Angelique Kerber (Germany), Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic and Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark).
Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka advanced into the semi-finals at the Rogers Cup with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-3 victory over big-serving South African Kevin Anderson at the Aviva Centre in Toronto on Friday.
Even in her wildest dreams 11th seed Angelique Kerber could not have imagined that by the end of the first week of this year's Wimbledon, she would be the highest ranked player left in the top half of the women's draw.
World No 14 Marin Cilic is through to the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup after the Croat easily beat Russia's Andrei Kuznetsov 6-2, 6-1 on Friday.
Images from Day 7 of the 2022 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Saturday.
Cilic's booming serve lacked its usual accuracy and Germany's Kohlschreiber was able to control long rallies, pushing the towering Croatian around the court with pinpoint groundstrokes en route to a quick victory.
Rafael Nadal beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 6-3 in the Brisbane International first round on Tuesday to make a successful return to action following two-and-a-half months out due to injury. The Spanish former world number one, seeded fifth, made a sluggish start and fell 3-1 down in the first set against his Ukrainian opponent. But Nadal, 30, won four successive games to clinch the opening set and the 14-times grand slam winner broke twice in the second to see off 2012 Brisbane finalist Dolgopolov in one hour 15 minutes. He will next play Germany's Mischa Zverev.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis notched up their 38th straight win to reach the semi finals of the women's doubles event of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Saturday.
Images from the matches played on Day 7 at the Roland Garros on Saturday
With five of the top 10 in the current rankings aged 28 or older, form suggests another pair of seasoned campaigners could contest the title match at the French Open, which starts in Paris on Sunday.
Rafael Nadal reclaimed top spot in the men's ATP rankings on Monday
World number one Ash Barty delighted the Memorial Drive crowd by breezing through to the Adelaide International semi-finals with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sofia Kenin on Friday.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Friday.
The Argentine, making his first appearance at Wimbledon since reaching the semi-finals in 2013, held aloft his arms in triumph after condemning twice Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka to his earliest defeat at the All England Club for three years.
Sania Mirza has said that French Open is going to be the "toughest" for her and Swiss partner Martina Hingis as clay court is not among their favourite surfaces.
Under the lights on the stadium court, Williams smashed 39 winners to defeat Azarenka 7-5, 6-3 in a rematch of the 2016 final, which the Belarusian won.
Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis lost 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 to Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina late on Thursday night.
IMAGES from Day 6 at Wimbledon on Saturday.
South Korean Chung Hyeon managed to hang around against Roger Federer a little longer this time around, but only just, as the Swiss maestro advanced to the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday.
World Number one Simona Halep and Japan's Naomi Osaka are among the players nominated for the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Player of the Year award.
Both will play their second-round singles matches on Thursday.
Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber eased past nemesis Irina-Camelia Begu with a 6-2, 6-3 victory on Friday that put her into the semi-finals of the Volvo Car Open clay court event in South Carolina.
The exodus of seeded players has been so spectacular that only one of the top 10 remains -- number seven Karolina Pliskova.
