There was also the exciting Rugby Union match that added that much more excitement to the past week. Rediff.com has that and more snapped right here. We bring you a glance of all the action from the week gone by
Rafael Nadal, after having suffered a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) loss in the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors to teenager Borna Coric, has shut down his season to undergo appendix surgery.
Both won in style on Sunday, with Spanish fifth seed Nadal pouncing on Guido Pella's serve to break the Argentine five times en route to a 6-3, 6-2 victory in sizzling afternoon heat on the stadium hard court.
The 33-year-old Swiss, ranked 261 in the world after two knee surgeries, served solidly throughout a one-sided contest on the slick centre court, easing past an opponent who struggled to cope with Wawrinka's power.
Juan Martin del Potro could be a 'nightmare opponent' for Rafael Nadal when they clash in the French Open semi-finals on Friday, according to former champion Mats Wilander.
Serena Williams must navigate a heavily American quarter of the draw including sister Venus to complete a calendar sweep of the four Grand Slams, while two sensational quarter-finals loom on the men's side after Thursday's U.S. Open draw.
For all their celebrated Grand Slam past, Nadal and Federer have never clashed in a US Open final.
Following Stanislas Wawrinka's win at the US Open on Sunday, it may finally be time to officially expand the 'Big Four' in men's tennis to the 'Big Five'.
It was his first victory ever against a player ranked in the top two and it avenged the semi-final loss at the Rio Olympics where Murray went on to win gold and Nishikori settled for bronze.
Lucas Pouille was not prepared to say his pulsating four hour, fourth-round upset of 14-time grand slam winner Rafael Nadal at the US Open on Sunday was a career changing moment.
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are top seeds at the major starting Monday
Nadal surpassed the haul of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Images from matches played on Day 4 at the US Open at the Flushing Meadows in New York on Thursday.
A summary of Friday's tennis action from around the world.
Roger Federer became the latest big name to get sucked up by a whirlwind called Nick Kyrgios as the Australian tyro sent the Swiss top seed spinning out of the Madrid Masters in the second round on Wednesday.
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.
With Wimbledon scrapped due to the pandemic, a flashback of some of the best moments from the last five championships at SW19.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
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.
Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been named top seeds for the Australian Open starting on Monday.
Andy Murray took a step closer to a first title in arguably the toughest year of his playing career, grinding out a 3-6, 7-5 ,6-2 win over Ugo Humbert on Saturday to reach the final of the European Open in Antwerp.
'I feel happy to be part of this rivalry, but at the same time, I played even more matches with Novak (Djokovic) than with Roger in such important matches, too'
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Novak Djokovic sauntered past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez to reach the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Thursday but Andy Murray had to claw past big-serving American John Isner after losing a first-set tiebreaker.
Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak at the China Open to 27 matches with a 6-2, 6-2 demolition over big-serving American John Isner on Friday.
US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season, starts Monday, August 28, at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Rafael Nadal left German qualifier Yannick Maden no hope as he booked his ticket for the third round of the French Open in ruthless fashion with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
A few days after it appeared as though a Roger Federer impersonator had gatecrashed the 02 Arena, the Swiss great resumed normal service to outplay Kevin Anderson and reach the last four of the ATP Finals on Thursday.
Defending champion Naomi Osaka of Japan was upset 7-5, 6-4 by Belinda Bencic in the fourth round at the US Open on Monday as the Swiss reached the quarter-finals for the second time.
Serena Williams kept her bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam on track, powering past big sister Venus 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 on a steamy star-studded night at the US Open in New York, on Tuesday.
Bhambri, ranked 200th, recovered from a set down and registered what turned to be an emphatic 6-7, 6-3, 6-1 win over Pella in a match that lasted for two hours and 10 minutes.
List of US Open men's singles champions since the Open Era began in 1968:
Roger Federer is the oldest male player to win a Grand Slam title since Australia's Ken Rosewall won at Melbourne Park in 1972 at the age of 37.
Stanislas Wawrinka and his wondrous one-handed backhand managed to pull off a feat no man outside tennis's Big Four had achieved in the past 40 Grand Slams -- to win two major titles
Coming into the do-or-die match, Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes, with a combined age of 86, won 6-3, 6-7(9), 7-5 after two hours and 21 minutes against Pavic and Skugor, ranked 15 and 32 respectively.
The top women's seeds continued to be scattered at Wimbledon on Wednesday, with Caroline Wozniacki's exit meaning five of the top eight were gone before the end of the third day.
A rampant Rafael Nadal turned on the style to beat old rival Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 6-3 on Saturday and reach his first Italian Open final since 2014. The top-seeded Spaniard will face defending champion Alexander Zverev who overcame fourth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6(13), 7-5 in the other semi-final.
How Nadal surpassed the haul of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
With rain having washed out Wednesday's play, Federer along with champion Rafael Nadal and top seed Novak Djokovic all face playing back-to-back matches on Thursday if they want to reach the quarter-finals.
Maria Sharapova's mix of grit and power were enough to see off American teenager Sofia Kenin 7-5, 6-2 in the third round of the US Open on Friday.
