Italy overthrew champions Russia 4-1 on Sunday to book a Fed Cup final meeting with the United States, who staged a stunning comeback to grab a 3-2 win in the Czech Republic. Francesca Schiavone beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 to seal victory in the fourth rubber of the semi-final for 2006 winners Italy, who were at home on clay at Castellaneta Marina.
India's Sania Mirza is standing on the cusp of history as she is now one win away from becoming World No 1.
Sara Errani romped to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Alisa Kleybanova in Cagliari to hand Italy an unassailable 3-0 lead over Russia and their third Fed Cup title in five years on Sunday.
Sania Mirza's singles campaign at the Dubai Open ended when she was beaten 5-7, 2-6 by world No 24 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the second round on Tuesday.
Runner-up Pliskova will move into the top-10 of the world rankings for the first time in her career
Serena Williams sounded a warning for her fellow Australian Open contenders with a sleek win
Coming off a fruitful year which yielded two grand slam titles, world number two Federer looked fit and sharp while other members of tennis's 'Big Four' are grappling with injury issues.
That is Murray's 46th ATP title.
He leads the men's seedings ahead of defending champ Roger Federer, with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov seeded third.
A look at the records of Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova and Japan's Naomi Osaka before their semi-final match at the Australian Open on Thursday (prefix number denotes seeding):
Not many would have bet on unseeded Americans Danielle Collins and Frances Tiafoe making it to the Australian Open quarter-final
India's veteran Leander Paes and his Swiss partner Martina Hingis stayed on course for their third Grand Slam of the year after advancing to the mixed doubles final at the US Open, in New York, on Wednesday night.
Images from Day 6 of Wimbledon at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, on Saturday.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova lost her second consecutive first round match with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Japan's Naomi Osaka at the BNP Paribas Open in California on Wednesday.
Venus Williams was not prepared to even countenance the suggestion she could potentially meet younger sister Serena in the Australian Open final after she advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Mona Barthel on Sunday.
Fifth seed Ana Ivanovic was knocked out of the Australian Open first round on Monday when she was upset by doubles specialist Lucie Hradecka 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Russia's Elena Vesnina ousted German second seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California on Tuesday.
Svetlana Kuznetsova opened the defence of her Sydney International title with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu on Sunday as the Australian Open warm-up event suffered a pair of big-name withdrawals.
Andy Murray clinched the Vienna Open title on Sunday with a 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 victory over David Ferrer, one of the Briton's main rivals in the battle to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Venus Williams moved within two wins of a possible sisterly showdown with Serena in the semi-finals of the US Open by beating German 26th seed Laura Siegemund to reach the fourth round on Saturday.
Seeing world number 50 Mischa Zverev and wildcard Denis Istomin upset the top two players in the world at Melbourne Park shows more players believe they can take shake up the established order and that can only be good for tennis, says Roger Federer.
Djokovic, the ninth seed, was originally scheduled to play Australian Open semi-finalist Chung Hyeon but the 22-year-old South Korean withdrew with a back injury about an hour before the match was due to start.
Croatian ninth seed Marin Cilic reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the third year running after Kei Nishikori quit with a rib injury midway through their fourth round match on Monday.
Maria Sharapova has pulled out of Russia's Fed Cup semi-final against Germany in Sochi this weekend with a leg injury, the Russian Tennis Federation said on Tuesday.
The latest tennis rankings have been announced by the ATP and WTA
Greek tyro Stefanos Tsitsipas' dream run at the Rogers Cup continued on Friday as the teenager toppled defending champion Alexander Zverev 3-6, 7-6(11), 6-4 to reach the semi-finals in Toronto.
Serena Williams made the most of a break in her match against 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova on Monday, when the Centre Court roof was closed after she threatened to sue organisers if she fell and injured herself on the slippery turf.
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.
World No 1s Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber have been named top seeds for the first major of the season, Australian Open, which will commences on January 16.
A day after celebrating his 36th birthday, Federer played the aggressive game that has propelled him to five titles, including two grand slams, this year, attacking the net and rocketing second serves.
Defending champion Serena Williams reached the semi-finals of the Western & Southern tournament in Cincinnati but not before having her mettle tested in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over sixth-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic on Friday.
Images from Day 4 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
World number two Rafael Nadal dropped a set at the Barcelona Open for the first time in four years before advancing to the last 16, beating Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday.
It would be hard to bet against the Williams sisters meeting in their first Wimbledon final since 2009, but Angelique Kerber and Elena Vesnina won't just be making up the numbers in the last four on Thursday. While unseeded Vesnina has described her semi-final against world number one Serena Williams as a dream, she is playing inspired tennis, bringing the guile from two doubles slams to deliver baseline power and a deft touch at the net.
Top seeded Briton Andy Murray was knocked out of the Australian Open in the fourth round on Sunday, losing 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-4 to German world number 50 Mischa Zverev on Rod Laver Arena.
Naomi Osaka eased into the second round of the Italian Open on Monday with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over former world number one Victoria Azarenka, on a day in which local favourite Roberta Vinci called time on her career.
Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been named top seeds for the Australian Open starting on Monday.
Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka advanced into the semi-finals at the Rogers Cup with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-3 victory over big-serving South African Kevin Anderson at the Aviva Centre in Toronto on Friday.
