With British hopes of elusive home success once again resting on his shoulders, Andy Murray could have been forgiven an envious glance Novak Djokovic's way after the Wimbledon draw was made on Friday.
Roger Federer made a comfortable start to his quest for a 100th title, despatching Fabio Fognini in straight sets to ease into the quarter-finals at the Paris Masters on Thursday.
The draw for the first Grand Slam of the season was made on Thursday and the top seeds could face some early tests of their credentials when play gets underway in Melbourne on Monday.
Rafa Nadal's bid to get back to top form before the French Open suffered a setback when he crashed to a 6-4, 7-6(6) defeat to 13th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini in the third round of the Barcelona Open on Thursday.
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 recall of a crushing loss might not have the same attraction as the memory of an inspired victory for most top tennis players, but World No 8 Stanislas Wawrinka wears failure as a badge of honour stamped permanently on his arm.
'The one match I would really like to watch would be Williams versus Djokovic.'
Roared on by 17,000 partisan fans Novak Djokovic fired Serbia ahead in the Davis Cup final on Friday but Tomas Berdych hit back for the Czech Republic to leave the tie delicately poised going into the weekend.
Defeat by Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals on Saturday left Roger Federer stuck on 99 career titles, but despite missing out on his century the Swiss said he was happy with his season.
Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer all picked up third round wins at the Western and Southern Open on Thursday to set up a star-studded last eight in Cincinnati.
Images from all the action on Day 5 of the Australian Open
Images from matches played on Day 4 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Thursday
Images from Day 6 of the 2022 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Rafael Nadal looked something close to his old masterful self on clay again as he crushed Czech Tomas Berdych.
Roger Federer said he trusts the anti-doping procedures in tennis despite rival Novak Djokovic's claim that fellow Serb's Victor Troicki's one-year ban was the result of negligence by the authorities.
Flavia Pennetta, Italy's newly-crowned US Open women's singles champion, will represent Mumbai Masters in this year's Champions Tennis League along with 1996 Wimbledon men's champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands following the players' draft, in Mumbai, on Wednesday. The second edition of the Champions Tennis League, the brainchild of former India Davis Cup captain Vijay Amritraj, will be played from November 23 to December 6, an increase of four days from last year's ten-day duration, announced Amritraj at a media conference after the players' draft.
The signs that things were going horribly wrong for Roger Federer were laid bare at Roland Garros.
Images from Day 8 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday.
5 exceptional players who surprised us at Melbourne.
World No 1 Rafael Nadal thinks Melbourne Park's resurfaced hardcourts are playing faster than ever and may not provide a good show for fans when the Australian Open begins on Monday.
Friday's showdown will be the 40th meeting between the duo with Rafael Nadal leading 24-15 and 10-3 in Grand Slams.
There comes a moment in all great sporting careers when the puzzle fits together and for Kei Nishikori it arrived on a sweltering early September afternoon in New York.
His success in Paris means Wimbledon remains the one major where he has not reached at least the semi-finals.
Norma Godinho has just about caught her breath after all the action at SW19 on Super Sunday. Here are Norma's memorable moments from this year's Wimbledon.
As Real Madrid star striker Cristiano Ronaldo watched, the World No 4 Nadal went past Italian Bolelli to set up a quarter-final clash against 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
IMAGES from Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Friday
Big-serving Milos Raonic fought back from a set down to upset Rafa Nadal 4-6, 7-6(10), 7-5 in a pulsating quarter-final at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday.
Kei Nishikori swept aside Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup.
Rafael Nadal was made to wait before his second-round Rogers Cup match due to several rain delays but did his part to put the schedule back on track with a speedy 6-2 6-3 win over Frenchman Benoit Paire on Wednesday.
Venus Williams staged a spirited comeback to down third seed Petra Kvitova 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 and reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Saturday.
Former world number one Serena Williams looked sharp in her return to the hardcourts after a week-long break, soundly defeating Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2 on Monday to advance to the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.
Roger Federer's straight sets victory over Richard Gasquet in the Davis Cup final against France on Sunday not only made Switzerland only the 14th nation to win tennis's prestigious trophy, but also completed the final piece in the Swiss's puzzle.
2016 is at the halfway stage and the year has already seen some stunning sporting wins, underdogs emerging triumphant on the biggest stages of them all.
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