Tennis ace Rafael Nadal pipped star footballers Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta to clinch the World Sportsman of the Year, whilst the World Cup winning Spanish football side expectedly walked away with the World Team of the Year trophy at the Laureus World Sports Awards night in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
National pride turned into a "rally of abuse" for tennis player Li Na after she shouted at Chinese spectators not to teach her how to play tennis during Saturday's tense final against Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open.
Fourth seed Maria Sharapova overcame a second set rally by Petra Kvitova to advance to her third Australian Open final with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory on Thursday. She will now meet third seed Victoria Azarenka in the final on Saturday after the Belarusian earlier beat 2011 champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Victoria Azarenka reached her first grand slam final with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over defending champion Kim Clijsters at the Australian Open on Thursday.
The Dane says it is just a matter of time before she reclaims her crown.
If men's tennis in 2011 was about a one-man domination, the women's equivalent was anything but that.
Serena Williams was fined $10,500 on Sunday by officials at the US Open and could face further sanctions after an investigation was launched into her angry outburst during her semi-final defeat by Kim Clijsters.
Andy Murray sent an ominous warning to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal about his intentions to win the US Open when he cruised through his first match at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday after Victoria Azarenka sent a shiver through the tennis world when she fainted on court.
Images from day two of the 2010 US Open tennis tournament in New York, on Tuesday.
Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki was named top seed of a grand slam tournament for the first time on Tuesday for the US Open starting next Monday.
International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Andy Roddick said on Saturday he was honoured to have played in the era of the Big Four, but also acknowledged that they caused him no end of frustration during his career.
Justine Henin has ruled herself out of this year's US Open after discovering that an elbow injury she suffered at Wimbledon was worse than initially thought.
Serena Williams, who has dropped to 172nd in the world after being sidelined for almost a year with injury and illness, has opted to use an injury-protected ranking to gain entry into the US Open, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said on Wednesday.
Former World No 1 Kim Clijsters says, "I admire both Serena and Venus because they have a perseverance that is incredible. They're able to do a lot of things that other people can't do, physically and mentally, so I don't doubt that she will come back, I don't doubt it, but it just takes a little bit of time."
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki suffered another Grand Slam nightmare as she was comprehensively beaten 6-1, 6-3 by Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova in Paris, on Friday.
France's Marion Bartoli shrugged off a stomach bug to reach the Indian Wells WTA tournament's semi-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 victory over former world number one Ana Ivanovic on Wednesday.
The return of Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin to the Australian Open, which begins on Monday, has added even more spice to a women's tournament already overflowing with talent.
Caroline Wozniacki took just 75 minutes to defeat 16th seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 in the final of the Dubai championships on Sunday.
Former world number one Justine Henin is poised to announce her comeback to professional tennis, Belgian media reported on Tuesday. Henin, 27, would make the announcement on evening news shows in Belgium, a number of newspapers reported.
Caroline Wozniacki rolled up her sleeves and battled back from a set down to defeat Francesca Schiavone of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at the WTA Championships on Thursday, sewing up the year-end world number one ranking.
A nagging knee injury has forced Venus Williams to skip the rest of the 2010 tennis season, including next month's Fed Cup final between the United States and Italy.
Roger Federer opens his title defence while Tim Henman starts another year of hope at Wimbledon on Monday.
China's ninth seed Li Na suffered the same fate as Kim Clijsters as she was dumped out of the US Open on Friday by British teenager Laura Robson.
Venus Williams fell short of a happy ending to her storybook run at the US Open after her vaunted serve deserted her in the semi-finals against defending champion Kim Clijsters on Friday.
Poland's Caroline Wozniacki, who justified her top seeding at the US Open by defeating former champion Maria Sharapova, insists that she is a much improved player now and potent enough to beat top stars.
Images from Day 4 of the US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York.
World number two Caroline Wozniacki breezed to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Vera Zvonareva in the final of the rain-hit Montreal Cup on Monday, confirming her status as the red-hot favourite for the US Open.
Sania Mirza will take on Venus Williams in the opening singles match at the Watson Water Champions Challenge.
The victory helped the Russian secure the eighth and final berth in the WTA's Tour Championships.
Serena Williams, who won the Australian and Wimbledon Grand Slam titles last year, was voted the WTA Tour 2009 Player of the Year for a second successive season, at a ceremony in Miami on Wednesday.
The top seed withdrew from the Stuttgart Grand Prix without playing a match, suffering from a right shoulder strain.\n
Roger Federer and Serena Williams will begin the defence of their US Open titles at Flushing Meadows on Monday, while Kim Clijsters returns to grand-slam tennis for the first time in two years.
Ask any of the top seeds at next week's U.S. Open who they would least like to play in the early rounds and there will only be one name uttered - Kim Clijsters.
Third seed Venus Williams's return to Canada ended in a shock 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 second-round defeat by Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko at the Toronto Cup on Tuesday.
The Indian ace will meet Uzbek wild card Iroda Tulyaganova in the first round at the Australian Open, which begins on Monday.
Former world No. 1 Venus Williams made a triumphant return to tennis, easily beating Ashley Harkleroad in the first round at the Australian Open.\n\n
This year's WTA championships pays the winner $1 million, equalling the largest prize in women's sport.
Defending champion Albert Costa narrowly escaped a humiliating French Open fate on Tuesday. A round-up of Day 2.
