Inspired Garcia goes from Cincinnati qualifier to champion
Russian Vera Zvonareva, Czech Petra Kvitova and Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova -- names that are barely household names in their native towns let alone in the wider world -- earned their golden tickets to the semi-finals after a day of topsy-turvy tennis at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Images from Day Seven of the US Open tennis tournament being played in New York.
The Cincinnati Open claimed two more high-profile victims on Thursday with Grand Slam champions Li Na and Petra Kvitova crashing out, while Russian pair Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva crunched their opponents en route to the quarter-finals.
China's Li Na defeated a battling Venus Williams 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the final of the Cincinnati Open on Saturday after an enthralling two-hour nine minutes encounter.
The Czech Republic was enjoying a hat-trick of Wimbledon triumphs on Sunday when Iveta Benesova teamed up with Austrian Juergen Melzer to capture the mixed doubles title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Vesnina.
Holder Maria Sharapova ended the encouraging run of Venus Williams to reach the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Friday, but Serena Williams enjoyed an easy passage through to the last four.
Novak Djokovic was back on top form as he brushed aside rising Australian talent Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Rome Masters on Tuesday.
World No 1 Victoria Azarenka enjoyed another walk in the park against Agnieszka Radwanska on Saturday, beating the Pole for the fifth time this year to reach the Stuttgart Grand Prix final.
World No 1 Serena Williams was handed the best possible draw for her WTA Finals title defence with the 33-year-old American grouped with two injury doubts and avoiding the in-form players.
Maria Sharapova stood, looked at the players' box, slammed both of her fists down in celebration and let out an almighty roar of "Come on!"
Images from day nine of the Australian Open 2012 Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, on Tuesday.
American Sloane Stephens battled back to defeat defending champion Caroline Garcia at the Cincinnati Open.
Czech Lucie Safarova took the final qualifying spot for the end-of-season WTA Finals after Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro was knocked out of the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.
French Open champion Li Na played like a 'junior' while Vera Zvonareva, Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova were all also sent packing after rusty performances in the third round at the Toronto Cup on Thursday.
Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza suffered a 6-2, 6-4 defeat at the hands of unseeded Czech Barbora Strycova in the second round of the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham on Thursday.
Sixth seed Marion Bartoli overcame blustery winds, a groin injury and a determined fightback from Czech Petra Kvitova to win the Eastbourne grasscourt Wimbledon warmup tournament 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 on Saturday.
Li Na was pushed to the limit before she sealed a spot in the French Open quarter-finals on Monday but winning machine Novak Djokovic did not need to hit a ball to take his place in the men's last four.
Unseeded Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands produced the biggest upset of the 2011 French Open when she knocked out second seed Kim Clijsters in the women's singles second round.
The seventh seeded Indo-Czech pair of Paes and Iveta Benesova brushed aside Frenchwoman Aravine Rezai and her Bulgarian partner Grigor DiMitrov 6-3, 6-1 in only 52 minutes. However, Bhupathi and his Chinese partner Jie Zheng had to fight hard before getting the better of Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and Ukrain's Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 (3-7), 6-0, 10-8.
Top seed Roger Federer will challenge for a ninth Halle Open title after reaching the Wimbledon warm-up event final with a 6-4 7-6(5) victory over rising Russian talent Karen Khachanov on Saturday.
'I'm so humbled by the continuous support from my fans in Rome and I look forward to making my return soon.'
Andy Murray will begin the defence of his Wimbledon title against a qualifier after the draw was made at the All England Club on Friday.
Images from Day 3 of the 2016 Australian Open in Melbourne, on Wednesday
China's Li Na showed plenty of character as she fought back to beat German Angelique Kerber 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 and win the Cincinnati Open title on Sunday.
Fed Cup holders Italy reached their second straight final after Flavia Pennetta overcame Czech Petra Kvitova to seal an unassailable 3-0 lead on Sunday.
Images from Day 2 of the 2022 Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Venus Williams remained on course for a strong end to an inconsistent season when the American beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Zurich Open semi-finals on Friday. Third-seeded Williams will face Serbian second seed Ana Ivanovic on Saturday after the world number four saw off Czech qualifier Petra Kvitova 6-1, 6-4.
Halep, the beaten finalist in the French Open last week, is the latest top player to pull out from the event after Czech world number three Karolina Pliskova opted to rest her injured elbow ahead of Wimbledon.
Top seed Venus Williams was stunned in the first round of the Memphis International by Czech qualifier Petra Kvitova.
Images from Day 7 of the 2020 US Open in New York on Sunday.
American tennis ace Serena Williams has maintained her No 1 spot, while German Angelique Kerber has slipped to the third in the latest women's tennis world rankings issued by the WTA.
Top seed Simona Halep was pooled with grand slam winners Maria Sharapova and Flavia Pennetta in a formidable looking Red Group for the end-of-season WTA Finals on Friday.
Photos from French Open matches played at the Roland Garros on Friday
Tunisia's Ons Jabeur believes the lessons she learned in two Grand Slam final defeats will stand her in good stead for Saturday's Wimbledon showdown with unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova.
Patty Schnyder suffered a first round defeat in front of her home fans at the Zurich Open, losing 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to Czech qualifier Petra Kvitova.
China's Yuan Meng beat Indian 16th seed Sania Mirza 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the WTA tournament in Los Angeles.
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.
Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska moved within one win of securing a place at the WTA Finals after thrashing Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Tianjin Open on Saturday.
Simona Halep has moved back to the top five in the latest women's tennis world rankings issued by the WTA, after clinching her first title in over a year at the Madrid Masters.
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