Williams said the number 24 is becoming an obsession for the media who talk of little else
World number ones Serena Williams, aiming to complete the first calendar-year Grand Slam in 27 years, and Novak Djokovic have been named the top seeds for the US Open championships starting on Monday in New York.
Halep has struggled for form and fitness since her first-round defeat at the US Open last August and came to Australia on a five-match losing streak and without a coach after long-serving Darren Cahill left for "family reasons".
Serena Williams has defeated her compatriot in four straight matches since a defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2013 Australian Open.
Italian tennis ace Francesca Schiavone has said that she regards Serena Williams better than Steffi Graf after she drew within four Grand Slam titles of the former German great's Open-era record.
The veteran American set up a showdown with Romanian former world number one Simona Halep in Saturday's final.
Serena Williams stormed into the US Open quarter-finals in record-smashing style on Monday by easing past Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2, 6-3 to claim her record 308th Grand Slam match win.
Dhankhar, who took to cricket in his school days and also had keen interest in spirituality and meditation, began his political journey with the Janata Dal and won the Lok Sabha elections in 1989.
President Droupadi Murmu will administer the Oath of Office to the elected Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 11.45 am on Thursday.
A summary of Wednesday's action at the US Open on Day 3.
Serena Williams said the latest chapter in her tennis life was "just beginning" on Saturday after seeing her hopes of a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title dashed in the Wimbledon final.
Nadal surpassed the haul of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Serena Williams allowed herself a few moments to enjoy her sixth Wimbledon title before thoughts turned to New York and the elusive calendar year feat.
Nadal always looked like the most likely winner once he got his nose back in front.
Images from Day 1 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday.
Serena Williams has never been one to take too much notice of convention.
As tradition demands the Serb will open play on Centre Court on Monday as defending men's champion but rather than a gentle loosener the 28-year-old faces a real danger in the form of Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, the world number 33.
A year after Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka were both caught up in a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, both will be trying to make history in the US Open final on Saturday.
Factbox on American Serena Williams, who plays sister Venus in the final of the Australian Open on Saturday.
The coach of Ana Ivanovic, and father-in-law of men's world number two Andy Murray, collapsed in the stands at Rod Laver Arena during the Serb's third round clash with American Madison Keys on Saturday, causing play to be suspended indefinitely.
This is not the first time that Murray has won our hearts with his stance against sexism.
Serena had said on Monday that she "can't wait for the future" as she warmed up for her return to the WTA Tour at the Tie Break Tens exhibition at Madison Square Garden.
IMAGES from Day 6 of the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Saturday.
Serena Williams started her quest to join Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova in joint fourth place on the career Grand Slam list with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over 18-year-old fellow American Taylor Townsend at the US Open on Tuesday.
Not many would have bet on unseeded Americans Danielle Collins and Frances Tiafoe making it to the Australian Open quarter-final
"It's kind of hard to say because she -- there's nothing I did wrong on those match points," Williams told reporters after her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title ended.
Serena was drawn on Friday to play doubles in a potentially decisive fifth rubber in this week's Fed Cup first round tie against the Netherlands in what will be her first competitive match in over a year. The doubles rubber, which is scheduled for Sunday on an indoor hard court in Asheville, North Carolina, will be played even if one side clinches the best-of-five match series through the opening four singles matches.
Serena Williams did not need the help of a fan-filled Arthur Ashe Stadium to provide a lift during her 7-5, 6-4 win over the 96th ranked Kristie Ahn.
Coach Patrick Mouratoglou claimed Serena Williams' fitness had since gone up a notch and Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles may well be in peril at the Australian Open.
Sloane Stephens will be defending her title at the U.S. Open but all eyes will be on Serena Williams over the coming two weeks as the six-times champion attempts to win her first Grand Slam title since becoming a mother.
'I've played injured most of the year -- whether it was my elbow, my knee, or in the finals moments after a certain match in Flushing, my heart' 'I'm a fierce competitor and I want to compete as well as I can, for as long as I can'
Serena Williams will be wary of another semi-final slip-up when she takes to the Arthur Ashe Stadium court on Thursday to face 10th seed Karolina Pliskova for a spot in the US Open final.
Top 10 seeds David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Stan Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet raced into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday, apparently eager to make the most of relatively mild conditions at Melbourne Park.
Showing great mobility, the towering Czech neutralised the potentially tricky world number 25 in a sometimes tetchy two-hour contest on Margaret Court Arena.
Serena Williams is chasing Australian Margaret Court's record 24 Grand Slam singles titles
Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who made the third round of the 1997 US Open also at 15, was the previous youngest player to advance to that stage of a grand slam.
Images from Saturday's action at the Australian Open.
Playing her first match of the North American hard court swing after pulling out of last week's event in Stanford with a sore right elbow, Williams played a ragged opening set in which she was broken four times while firing four double faults.
Rafael Nadal, the king of clay won his 11th French Open title on Sunday.
The players have been allowed out to practise for five hours a day during their quarantine but Djokovic said he had headed to a local park on his first morning in Australia without restrictions.
