World No 1s Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber have been named top seeds for the first major of the season, Australian Open, which will commences on January 16.
Rafael Nadal rallied from a set down to ease past Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the Italian Open quarter-finals on Friday and set up a mouth-watering clash against long-time adversary Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday's final. Djokovic plotted a similar path to the Spanish clay-court king when the Serb lost the first set against Japan's Kei Nishikori before recovering to win 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 and seal an open-era record 51st career meeting against Nadal.
Swiss third seed Stanislas Wawrinka outlasted tiring former champion Juan Martin del Potro in four sets to advance to the semi-finals of the US Open on Wednesday.
Despite the world number nine's withdrawal, a strong field is expected for the event, including Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov and Juan Martin del Potro, who have all confirmed their participation.
Former World No 1 Azarenka, the winner of two Australian Open titles and twice a US Open runner-up, withdrew from last year's tournament at Flushing Meadows because of a child custody battle.
The world number one was virtually guaranteed a semi-final berth before walking on court at the O2 Arena, but made doubly sure by cruising past Tomas Berdych in little more than an hour.
Three-times champion and world number one Novak Djokovic has been drawn in a group with U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in next week's season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Andy Murray crushed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-2 to win his group at the ATP World Tour Finals on Friday and stay on course for a season-ending climax with Novak Djokovic.
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.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
The 35-year-old's first match back in action last week at the Stuttgart Open was a flop when he suffered a shock loss to German veteran Tommy Haas, ranked 302 at the time, despite leading for a set and a half.
18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz entered the top 10 at the same age, on the same date and after a triumph in the same tournament as compatriot and 21-times major winner Rafael Nadal did in 2005.
Images from Day 8 of the 2021 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Sunday
It was a freak accident that set the claycourt major abuzz.
American tennis player Taylor Fritz and his doubles partner, Tik Tok personality Addison Rae, won the virtual Stay At Home Slam on Sunday as real-life tennis remains on hold because of the coronavirus crisis. The likes of the Williams sisters, Japanese stars Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori and the recently retired Maria Sharapova competed as their favourite characters from the world of Nintendo to raise money for charity.
Milos Raonic has withdrawn from the US Open due to a persistent wrist injury but plans to return to the Tour later in the year, the Canadian said on late on Wednesday.
Andy Murray has lost the world number two spot to Roger Federer in the latest ATP rankings released on Monday, after his defeat to Novak Djokovic in the Madrid Masters final.
Rafael Nadal says he could miss the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals next month because of appendicitis.
The motto 'if at first you don't succeed' might have been coined for Japan's Yuichi Sugita, who after a battling French Open main draw debut on Sunday finds himself close to reaching the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Nick Kyrgios ended Novak Djokovic's 19-match winning run at Indian Wells by beating the Serb 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals in Indian Wells on Wednesday, while Roger Federer also advanced with a straight sets win over Rafael Nadal.
Top seed Andy Murray could meet Roger Federer or Kei Nishikori in the third round, while Serena faces tricky Belinda Bencic in opening round
India's most successful One-Day International captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has beaten football superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to secure ninth place in the list of the world's 'most marketable athletes', compiled by the London School of Marketing.
Look who we spotted at the Flushing Meadows this year.
Following a whirlwind few years, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka can be forgiven for taking time to reset and relax as the sporting world goes on an indefinite pause due to the coronavirus crisis. Osaka, a two-time Grand Slam winner who also became the first Japanese player to reach world number one, had been preparing for another action-packed summer including her Olympics debut on home soil at Tokyo 2020.
World number one Novak Djokovic has enjoyed a whirlwind trip to Sunday's U.S. Open final, but the top-seeded Serb expects hard work ahead when he meets Stan Wawrinka at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Defending champion Djokovic, who became the third man to hold all four grand slam singles titles at once after his triumph at Roland Garros in June, owns a 19-4 career head-to-head advantage over the Swiss third seed.
Australian Nick Kyrgios let his tennis do the talking against Stanislas Wawrinka as he knocked the fourth seed out of the Madrid Open with a scintillating display on Wednesday.
World number one Novak Djokovic is on a French Open semi-final collision course with nine-times champion Rafael Nadal after the draw was made on Friday.
Six-time champion Roger Federer survived a late-night Swiss semi-final thriller against Stanislas Wawrinka on Saturday to set up an ATP World Tour Finals showdown against Novak Djokovic.
Switzerland's French Open champion Stan Wawrinka captured his fourth title this year when he beat his good friend Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-4 in the final of the Japan Open on Sunday.
Former world number one Novak Djokovic showed signs of rediscovering his form with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory over Dusan Lajovic in the opening round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Djokovic will need to win in Tokyo and then the US Open later this year to achieve the feat that has so far only been accomplished by Steffi Graf in 1988.
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.
Bernard Tomic is set to sit out the Australian Open after Tennis Australia (TA) decided not to award him a wildcard to the main draw, the organisers said on Thursday.
Andy Murray is itching for a break after an exhausting few months, the world number two said, after defending champions Britain were knocked out by Argentina 3-2 in the Davis Cup semi-final.
Alexander Zverev suffered a surprise defeat against Frenchman Ugo Humbert
IMAGES from Day 8 of the US Open on Monday
Images from Day 1 of the French Open matches played at Roland Garros on Sunday
The 33-year-old Swiss maestro produced a masterclass of shot-making as he thrashed Australian wildcard James Duckworth 6-0, 6-1 to charge into the semi-finals of the Australian Open warm-up event.
Andy Murray remains committed to playing a full part in Great Britain's Davis Cup defence despite the prospect of a packed schedule hampering the world number two's chances of leading the side to a repeat triumph.
