Serena Williams let victory slip from her grasp but gained plenty in defeat at the Eastbourne grasscourt tournament on Wednesday while sister Venus continued her winning return after a five-month injury layoff.
Novak Djokovic demolished Spain's David Ferrer 6-2, 6-4, while fellow-top seed Caroline Wozniacki was dragged into a battle of wills before she won the rain-delayed China Open final on Monday. Wozniacki lived up to her billing as the new world number one when she withstood some fierce rallies to tame second-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to claim the title 24 hours later than planned.
Five-times champion and second seed Venus Williams was stunned 6-2, 6-3 by Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old American, winner of eight Grand Slam titles, had pulled out of the event last year due to illness.
Serena Williams won her third title of the year by beating Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the Family Circle Cup final.
Top seed Kim Clijsters edged past Jelena Jankovic, while Maria Sharapova beat fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva at the Acura Classic.
The Belgian battled past Jelena Jankovic 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic
The Indian ace reached a career-high 31st in the latest WTA Tour rankings despite being out of action for the last three weeks.
The French Open champion outlasted fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva in a thriller at the Acura Classic.
The Belgian top seeds remained on course to meet in the final of the Swisscom Challenge.
Russian teenager Vera Zvonareva played the match of her life to beat third seed Venus Williams in the fourth round of the French Open.
Second seed Serena Williams admitted closing the roof on Rod Laver Arena because of the soaring temperatures helped her battle back from a first set deficit to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday. The American's victory prevented a Russian sweep of the Australian Open semi-finals and she will now play Elena Dementieva in the last four on Thursday.
In the men's draw, Belgian Xavier Malisse has pulled out, also with a wrist injury, while Spaniard Alberto Martin has ruled himself out because of an elbow injury.
Serena Williams weathered an early challenge from Russian Vera Zvonareva before the former World No 2 crumbled to lose 7-5, 6-0 in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
Second seed Daniil Medvedev will launch his bid to win his first major title against veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
In his mixed doubles, Rohan Bopanna and Indonesian Aldila Sutjiad beat German pair Andreas Mies and Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 6-2 in US Open first round match on Thursday.
Venus and Serena Williams kept up their semi-final date with commanding victories over Vera Zvonareva and Anastasia Rodionova respectively at the WTA Tier II Bangalore Open on Friday. Venus won 6-4, 6-3, while Serena was through at 6-1, 6-4.
Venus Williams and Vera Zvonareva registered second-round victories at the Advanta Championships in Philadelphia on Thursday.
The Russian claimed her second title of the year when she defeated unseeded Vera Zvonareva 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 in an all-Russian final in Doha.
Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo advanced into the final of the Rome Masters by brushing aside sixth seed Vera Zvonareva 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday.
Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova shocked fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Montreal Cup third round on Tuesday. Dementieva was joined at the exit door by eighth-seeded compatriot Vera Zvonareva, who was upset 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 by Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.
Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek overcame a fighting Russian pair of Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva to book a semi-final berth in the US $ 600,000 WTA East West Bank Classic tournament in Los Angeles. The Indo-American pair, seeded second, pipped the Russian duo 6-3, 1-6, 10-8 in one hour and 14 minutes in the quarter-finals of the Tier II hard court event on Friday night.
The second seeds pipped the American-Russian duo of Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.
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.
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.
Belgium's Kim Clijsters wasted little time in flattening second seed Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3 with an awesome display of power tennis to reach her second Australian Open final on Thursday.
Top-seed Jelena Jankovic and second seed Caroline Wozniacki suffered surprise third-round exits in the Cincinnati Open on Thursday.
Russia's Maria Sharapova will face Serbia's Jelena Jankovic in the Cincinnati Open final after the pair enjoyed solid victories in their semi-finals on Saturday. Sharapova recovered from a poor start to beat fellow-Russian and world number two Vera Zvonareva 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach her fourth final of the season while Jankovic beat Germany's Andrea Petkovic 7-6, 6-1.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki moved into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian Nadia Petrova but third seed Francesca Schiavone was upset by China's Peng Shuai on Wednesday.
Serena Williams continued her love affair with Melbourne by easing to an emphatic 6-3, 6-4 victory over an in-form Elena Dementieva to advance to a fourth Australian Open final in Melbourne on Thursday. The 27-year-old Williams will meet another Russian in the title match, taking on third seed Dinara Safina, who overpowered compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 7-6.
Serena and Venus Williams' stranglehold of women's doubles was ended at Wimbledon on Wednesday when the American sisters were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina.
Jelena Jankovic reached the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open after Elena Dementieva retired with a back injury.
Russian Maria Sharapova and Serbia's Jelena Jankovic waited for a deadly storm to pass before thundering into the Toronto Cup quarter-finals on Thursday. World number two Serena Williams avoided all the nasty weather, racing into the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-4 demolition of Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko before the storms hit.
The Russian swept aside Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik at the Linz Open on Tuesday.
Russia's Dinara Safina said the players were unhappy with the changes being made to the 2009 WTA Tour schedule.
Venus Williams overwhelmed third-seeded Russian Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Stuttgart Grand Prix.
The Wimbledon champion will begin his defence against the talented Richard Gasquet of France
The best was saved for the last. After a day of mundane action and lopsided contests, China's Zi Yan showed tremendous grit to save three match points and oust eighth seed Maria Kirilenko in the first round of the WTA Tier II Bangalore Open on Tuesday night.
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