Serbian Viktor Troicki ruthlessly dismantled ailing Kazakh qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2, 6-3 to win the Sydney International for his second career ATP title on Saturday.
Petra Kvitova completed her preparations for an assault on a third Grand Slam title in triumphant style on Friday by downing fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova 7-6, 7-6 to win the Sydney International title.
Brazil right back Danilo has been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup after suffering ankle ligament damage in training on the eve of Friday's quarter-final against Belgium.
Top seed Alexander Zverev crashed out in the second round of the Stuttgart Open, losing to world number 170 Dustin Brown.
India's Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam Qureshi crashed out of the US Open after going down fighting in the men's doubles first round contest at the Flushing Meadows in New York.
World number one Rafa Nadal advanced to the semi-finals of the Thailand Open with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin on Friday.
Lukas Rosol beat Evgeny Korolev 7-6, 67, 7-6, 6-2 to give the Czech Republic an unassailable 3-1 lead over Kazakhstan and propel the defending champions into the Davis Cup semi-finals on Sunday.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer notched up contrasting victories to reach the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals on Thursday while David Ferrer fought back from a set down to knock out Andy Murray.
ormer world number one Andy Murray showed some more positive signs in his injury comeback but eventually went down in a bruising battle with Italy's Fabio Fognini.
Novak Djokovic will begin his Australian Open title defence against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while reigning women's champion Sofia Kenin meets wild card Maddison Inglis, following the draw for the year's first Grand Slam on Friday.
Serbia had their backs to the wall when Kazakh veteran Mikhail Kukushkin beat debutant Miomir Kecmanovic in a three-hour epic in the first singles rubber. But Djokovic calmly levelled the tie with a straight-sets defeat of Alexander Bublik before returning to court to team up with Nikola Cacic and beat Kazakh pair Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
Italy sealed a place in the semi-finals of the ATP Cup by winning both singles matches against France
Serbia sealed their place in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in straightforward fashion but Britain survived another nail-biter before joining them in the last-eight on Thursday.
Playing his first match since injuring his knee at Indian Wells last month, Nadal showed no signs of rust as he raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set on Court Rainier III.
Bidding for a record-extending ninth Australian Open title, the world number one and double-defending champion remains the runaway favourite at his favourite Grand Slam where he once remarked that he felt touched by the "divine".
Japan's Nishikori was the first man representing an Asian country to break through to a Grand Slam final at the 2014 tournament before Marin Cilic stopped him in the title match.
Making a stupendous start to the fresh season, Ramkumar Ramanathan scalped higher-ranked Roberto Carballes Baena to set up a second round clash with tournament-favourite Marin Cilic at the inaugural Tata Open Maharashtra, in Pune.
World champion Marc Marquez underlined his dominance of MotoGP when he swept to a record-equalling 12th pole position of the season on a good day for Spain at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Roger Federer began his 63rd consecutive Grand Slam tournament with a majestic 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 first-round win over little-known Bosnian Damir Dzumhur at Wimbledon in London, on Tuesday.
Images from the second day at the US Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Defending champions Rohan Bopanna and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan were ousted from the Tata Open Maharashtra but Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan combined to shock the top seeds, keeping the Indian hopes alive, in Pune, on Thursday.
IMAGES from the matches played on Day 4 of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Thursday
Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer battled past in-form Russian Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the last-16 at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.
Maria Sharapova's mix of grit and power were enough to see off American teenager Sofia Kenin 7-5, 6-2 in the third round of the US Open on Friday.
PHOTOS from the Wimbledon Championships matches played at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Saturday