Images from all the action on Day 9 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Tuesday
Form guide for American Serena Williams ahead of Thursday's US Open semi-final clash against Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova:
Coco Gauff claimed the biggest win of her young career on Friday with a stunning upset of defending champion Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open to reach the fourth round. Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams also lost their respective matches earlier in the day. Images from Day 5 of the Australian Open played at Melbourne Park on Friday.
US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season, starts Monday, August 28, at Flushing Meadows in New York.
US tennis powerhouse Serena Williams dispatched France's Alize Cornet in two sets on Monday, ending a streak of weak family performances that saw older sister Venus eliminated from singles on Saturday and the pair knocked out in doubles on Sunday.
Belgium's Elise Mertens rallied from a set down to beat top seed Simona Halep 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 and clinch her first Premier-level title at the Qatar Open on Saturday.
Tennis accounted for nearly three quarters of all the suspicious betting alerts issued last year, the European Sport Security Association (ESSA) said in a report published on Thursday.
Serena Williams plans to play fewer tournaments in the future to aid her quest to win more Grand Slam titles, according to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
The 23-year-old says the points and calculations are far from her mind and it is the big events such as Wimbledon and next month's US Open that fire her up.
Andy Murray looked every bit the world number one as he gave a Russian teenager Andrey Rublev a lesson in Grand Slam tennis to reach the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 win.
Roger Federer dug himself out of a late slump to fend off American qualifier Noah Rubin 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(3) on Wednesday and draw vital confidence for a tough third round clash against 10th seed Tomas Berdych at the Australian Open.
The contest for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award promises to be one of the most competitive ever with the likes of Usain Bolt, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andy Murray vying for top honours.
Federer begins the pursuit of a record eighth Wimbledon title and a record 85th match win at the grass court major; Djokovic hoping to curb dismal slide
Venus Williams staged a spirited comeback to down third seed Petra Kvitova 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Saturday.
Defending champion Federer, battling a flu bug according to the local media, was made to work hard by his Bulgarian opponent before the Swiss master prevailed 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4 at the Pat Rafter Arena. "It was tough. Grigor's a great shotmaker, the future's ahead of him in the game," Federer said after setting up a semi-final against Austrian youngster Dominic Thiem.
Roger Federer took 55 minutes to dispel all injury doubts with a 6-2, 6-1 routing of unheralded German Tobias Kamke in the second round of the Brisbane International on Thursday. Media speculations swirled around the fitness of the world number three less than two weeks before he launches his bid for a fifth Australian Open title and the Swiss maestro dismissed them by dropping only three games in a lop-sided contest. "I'm going to do my best to stay injury free and give myself a chance to win another grand slam," Federer said after setting up a quarter-final against Grigor Dimitrov.
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.
Defending Olympic champion Andy Murray reached the semi-finals of the men's tennis on Friday after winning a third-set tiebreak to scrape through a testing encounter against American Steve Johnson.
Victoria Azarenka withstood some early pressure from Britain's Johanna Konta to continue her quest for a third Miami Open title with a 6-4, 6-2 quarter-final victory on Wednesday.
If Serena Williams' rivals were hoping that the American would take some time out to savour drawing level with Steffi Graf's professional-era record of 22 grand slam titles, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou fired off an immediate warning.
List of Australian Open women's singles champions since the event began in 1922 (Australian unless stated):
Having played just one tournament since mid-September due to various injuries and a recent bout of flu, Serena Williams is now itching to get back into competition with the Rio Olympics among her top priorities for the year.
Venus Williams captured her 47th WTA career title on Saturday, and her biggest in five years, when she won the Wuhan Open in China, beating Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza.
With not one, or two but three passports in her possession, Britain's Johanna Konta could have been forgiven for suffering an identity crisis.
IMAGES from Day 6 of the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Saturday.
Rafael Nadal swept into the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday with a ruthless 6-4, 6-1 victory over Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov. The top seed, who will reclaim the world number one ranking from Roger Federer if he wins his eighth title in Rome, turned in a near-flawless performance, losing only five service points as he honed in on victory in an hour and 22 minutes.
The match ended in 52 minutes as Williams played her forehand into the net.
Serena Williams said it was a 'great feeling' to surpass Steffi Graf as the most prolific grand slam champion of the open era at the Australian Open on Saturday and was not prepared to put a number on the haul of titles she might end up with.
Top seed Serena Williams dropped the second set before bouncing back to beat compatriot Christina Mchale 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in second-round action at the Miami Open in Florida on Thursday.
A rampaging Roger Federer delivered a stunning reminder of his class at the Australian Open on Friday with a crushing 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win over Tomas Berdych to storm into the fourth round.
Serena Williams was forced to go on the attack once again to defend equal prize money after she reached a ninth Wimbledon final in a new record time. The world number one blasted Russia's Elena Vesnina off Centre Court in just 48mins 34sec, the fastest ever semi-final at the All England Club. Vesnina earned 500,000 ($649,000) by making the last four.
World number one Serena Williams kept her Wimbledon title defence on track on Sunday, downing Germany's Annika Beck 6-3, 6-0 with a crushing display of power and booming serves to chalk up her 300th grand slam victory.
Afghanistan registered a thumping 202 runs victory over New Zealand to move into the Super League semi-finals of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Christchurch on Thursday.
After a season plagued with injuries and a health scare Jelena Jankovic, perhaps more than anyone, needed the tonic of a few days soaking up the Mallorcan sunshine last week.
Seven-time champion Serena Williams endured an unlikely scrap in her Wimbledon opener and will look to shake off more rust in the second round on Thursday when she faces another qualifier in 18-year-old Kaja Juvan.
Images from Day 4 of the US Open in New York on Thursday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
Eugenie Bouchard pulled off her first win over Maria Sharapova with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 triumph in the Madrid Open on Monday in a thrilling contest full of tension after the Canadian had called the Russian a cheater following her doping ban.
Serena Williams underlined the difference in class and power between her and the rest of the women's field with a 6-0, 6-4 demolition of fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday to reach her seventh Australian Open final.
It would be perfectly safe for Serena Williams to continue with rigorous training throughout pregnancy, but how quickly the 35-year-old would return to tournament tennis is uncertain.
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