Dinara Safina made a scrappy start to her Beijing duel with Serena Williams for the world number one spot by beating Italian Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the $6.6 million China Open on Sunday.
Serena Williams' bid for a rare calendar-year Grand Slam came to a shuddering halt at the U.S. Open on Friday when the three-times defending champion suffered a stunning 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci.
Top seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy produced a great escape as they beat Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to retain the Australian Open women's doubles title.
Roberta Vinci, playing in her first grand slam singles final, lost twice at the US Open on Saturday after coming up short in an all-Italian clash against her closest friend on tour.
Flavia Pennetta reached her first grand slam semi-final after beating Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-1 in their all-Italian quarter-final at the US Open on Wednesday.
World number four Jelena Jankovic fought back from a set down to beat Italy's Roberta Vinci 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 in the quarter-finals of the Andalucia Tennis Championships on Friday. The Serbian second seed, by far the highest-ranked player left in the tournament after Wednesday's shock exit of world number one Serena Williams, found it tough going against the 67th-ranked Vinci on the clay in Marbella.
Roberta Vinci sent Italy into the Fed Cup final for the fifth time in eight years with a 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 victory over CzechRepublic's Lucie Safarova in Palermo on Monday.
Flavia Pennetta beat unseeded Italian compatriot and childhood friend Roberta Vinci 7-6(4) 6-2 to win the US Open women's singles title on Saturday.
Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci wore down local hopes Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to become the first Italian pair to win the women's doubles at the Australian Open on Friday.
World number one Novak Djokovic received a free pass into the third round of the U.S. Open when Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic withdrew from their match on Wednesday due to a left forearm injury. The walkover provided the top-seeded defending champion with an extended break to improve his niggling left wrist injury before his next match against either Guido Pella of Argentina or Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.
'I don't know. It's tough to explain my emotion right now. Maybe tomorrow morning I can tell you something, but now it's amazing'
Following is a list of biggest shocks in women's tennis after Italian outsider Roberta Vinci, ranked 43rd, beat world number one Serena Williams in the US Open semi-finals on Friday to deny the American a chance to complete a calendar year Grand Slam.
Roberta Vinci beat her opponent and the rain to storm into the quarter-finals of the US Open on Monday just before a thunderstorm forced play to be suspended.
Defending champion Marin Cilic and unseeded Roberta Vinci were the first through to the quarter-finals of the US Open in New York, on Tuesday, and both needed to go the distance against tough French resistance.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova made a winning comeback to the tour on Wednesday following her 15-month doping ban, beating Italian Roberta Vinci in straight sets in the first round of the Stuttgart Grand Prix.
Three fancied players did succumb on a cheerless day.
Petra Kvitova moved closer to a third straight Connecticut Open crown after defeating Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals on Thursday.
Inspired Vinci rallies to beat World No 1 and then tells US crowd: 'But today is my day. Sorry guys'
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki continued her resurgence at the U.S. Open with a commanding 6-3 6-1 win over Romania's Monica Niculescu on Friday to reach the fourth round. The Dane, a U.S. Open finalist in 2009 and 2014 but unseeded this year after being sidelined for two months by an ankle injury, dominated from the start and wrapped up victory in just under an hour and a half. Niculescu, ranked 16 places above Wozniacki in the rankings at 58th, made life tough early on, particularly with her sliced forehand which is a rarity on the WTA Tour.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi dropped his busy weekend schedule and headed to New York on Saturday for the first all-Italian women's final at the US Open.
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black were halted in their stride by the world No 1 Italian pair of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in the women's doubles quarter-finals at the Australian Open in Mlebourne on Tuesday. The sixth seeds lost 2-6, 6-3, 4-6.
India's Sania Mirza and Zimbabwe's Cara Black entered the final of the WTA China Open, shocking top seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-4 on Friday. In doing do they extended their unbeaten run to eight matches, and Sania put herself in line for her fifth title of the season.
Sara Errani beat doubles partner Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-3 in a subdued all-Italian semi-final at the Dubai championships on Friday.
Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina claimed their maiden grand slam title together by beating Italian top seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-2 in the French Open women's doubles final on Sunday.
Sara Errani warmed up for her singles final by teaming up with fellow Italian Roberta Vinci to win the French Open women's doubles title on Friday by beating seventh-seeded Russians Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands entered the women's doubles third round with a straight-set win on a mixed day for the Indians in the US Open.
Russian sixth seed Dinara Safina overcame a couple of concentration lapses to defeat Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.
Williams reached the final of the mixed team event earlier this year with American compatriot John Isner to kick off a superb season where she won the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon to take her grand slam singles haul to 21.
Photos from matches played at the US Open in Flushing Meadows on Sunday
World number one Caroline Wozniacki suffered a shock exit from the Toronto Cup on Wednesday, falling 6-4, 7-5 to Italy's Roberta Vinci in windy conditions that played havoc with her game.
'I was trying to play every match like it was my last one. Trying to play best all the time' 'For me it is easy to practise and stay in this life but sometimes it is hard to compete'
Serena Williams had been a vulnerable conqueror at this year's majors, living dangerously and dicing with defeat on numerous occasions as she tried to become only the fourth woman to complete the calendar Grand Slam.
The Russian beat Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-2, 7-6 in the Toronto Cup on Tuesday.
Indian tennis stars Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna advanced to the quarter-finals of the women's and mixed doubles events respectively after notching up contrasting victories with their partners at the Australian Open.
World number one Dinara Safina scrambled past Italian Roberta Vinci 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Cincinnati Open on Tuesday. World number 46 Vinci served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but her nerve failed her at the crucial time.
Top-ranked Roger Federer continued his dynamic US Open form in near-tropical conditions on Saturday while fourth seed Serena Williams braved the steaming heat to avenge a shock defeat she suffered in January.
World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova stayed on track for a mouth-watering showdown in the final of the Indian Wells WTA tournament while defending champion Caroline Wozniacki was beaten by Ana Ivanovic on Tuesday.
India's Sania Mirza and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands crashed out of the Sony Open Miami Masters after losing their women's doubles quarter-final match against world No.1 pair of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in straight sets at Crandon Park.
Czech Petra Kvitova defeated titleholder Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4 in the Dubai Championships on Thursday to set up a semi-final against Caroline Wozniacki.
Rohan Bopanna and his Chinese partner Jie Zheng reached the mixed doubles quarterfinals at the Wimbledon with a straight-set victory over the Italian pair of Daniele Bracciali and Roberta Vinci.
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