Top seeded Ash Barty overcame a slow start to defeat Maria Sharapova 6-4 6-1, while Simona Halep battled past Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6 7-5 6-4 in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday.
Nadal, playing his first match since losing to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semi-finals, fell behind 5-2 in the tiebreak before roaring back to prevail in his first career meeting with world number 53 Evans.
The Serena Williams show continued at the US Open as the world number one moved a step closer to a calendar Grand Slam on Wednesday, while Mardy Fish took a final Flushing Meadows bow as the curtain came down on the American's career.
US Open champions Marin Cilic and Serena Williams kicked off their China Open campaigns with straight sets victories against battling underdogs on Monday, but Rafael Nadal suffered defeat in a rare doubles outing on his return from injury.
An air of calm descended at Wimbledon on 'Tranquil Thursday' as Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams avoided the trail of destruction that had decimated the field at the All England Club on day three of the grasscourt major.
Garbine Muguruza reached the French Open quarter-finals for the third year in a row when a solid display earned her a 6-3, 6-4 victory against former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The top-seeded Serb, who had not dropped a set in four matches since the round of 16 at the Australian Open in January, looked out-of-sorts throughout the 98-minute contest.
Tatsuma Ito and Michal Przysiezny claimed the biggest wins of their careers at the Japan Open on Tuesday when the local wildcard knocked out top seed Stan Wawrinka and the Polish qualifier saved match points to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday.
Roger Federer handed Nick Kyrgios a 6-4 6-1 7-5 tennis masterclass by storming into the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Saturday with a ruthless display that left the Australian talking to himself and waving the white flag.
Images from Day 6 of the French Open in Paris on Friday.
Having bagged a gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics and won the 2013 Wimbledon championship, Murray will get his first chance to complete the hat-trick at the O2 next week.
Milos Raonic overcame third seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the third round at the Madrid Open on Tuesday and set up an all-Canadian clash with teenager Denis Shapovalov.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
'If one thing seemed clear in this week of very uneven tennis in Melbourne though, the much celebrated golden age of tennis may be over.'
Factbox on Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Great Britain's Andy Murray who will contest his sixth Australian Open men's singles final on Sunday.
Ivan Lendl might be 'way too busy' to be his mentor but Tomas Berdych has not given up the dream of jumping on the 'super coach' bandwagon.
Federer, who skipped the entire clay court season after winning the Australian Open and claiming titles at Indian Wells and Miami this year, will next play defending champion Florian Mayer who beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille in three sets.
IMAGES from the matches played during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, at Wimbledon in London on Thursday
Sania Mirza recently added a mixed doubles gold from the Asian Games to her three Grand Slam titles in the same category, and is ranked world No. 7 in doubles. However, Indian tennis legend Vijay Amritraj says he would have loved to see her do well in singles and fulfil her true potential.
Photos from French Open matches played at the Roland Garros on Friday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
A summary of Sunday's matches at the French Open.
International Ski Federation (FIS) president Gian-Franco Kasper has warned FIFA against holding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar at the same time as the Winter Olympic Games.
Karolina Pliskova lost her cool over a line call and bashed a hole into the umpire's chair with her racket after suffering a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat by Maria Sakkari in the Italian Open second round on Wednesday.
Images from Day 4 of the French Open, at Roland Garros, in Paris.
The ATP issued the latest men's tennis rankings on Monday and the top 10 list remains unchanged with Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic still leading the rankings.
Images from the matches played at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, in Wimbledon, London, on Monday.
Former World No 1 Ana Ivanovic was upset 7-5, 6-4 by 42nd-ranked Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the second round of the US Open on Thursday.
US Open champion Martin Kaymer sank an eight-foot birdie putt at the first extra hole to beat Bubba Watson in the four-man PGA Grand Slam of Golf in Bermuda on Wednesday.
Photos from the US Open matches played on Monday
Following badminton World No 1 Lee Chong Wei's provisional ban, Rediff.com brings you ten top sports persons who gave in to drugs - one of the mighty perils that has affected modern sporting culture.
Rafael Nadal is recovering satisfactorily from appendicitis and will continue a course of antibiotics in a bid to be fit for the remainder of the 2014 season, the World No 2's spokesman said on Thursday.
American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, was suspended for six months by USA Swimming on Monday following his recent arrest on a drunken driving charge.
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