The former world No 1, winner of the Australian Open in 2003 and 2005, looked rusty at the start of the match but was far too strong for the Italian.
The glittering career of Russian former World No 1 Maria Sharapova was in tatters after she was given a two-year ban by the International Tennis Federation. Check out the high points in her career...
Multiple Grand Slam champions Serena and Venus Williams withdrew from women's doubles competition at the Australian Open on Wednesday before first round action got underway.
Steffi Graf acknowledged Serena Williams had achieved her success in the more competitive Open era and said she would eventually finish her career as the game's greatest player.
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Serena Williams crashed out of the Auckland Classic after fellow American Madison Brengle pulled off a 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4 upset in a see-saw second round contest.
Serena Williams is skipping practice on the eve of the French Open final as the World No 1 battles with illness, organisers said on Friday.
An ailing Serena Williams stayed on course for a 20th grand slam singles title as she came back from the brink to reach the final of the French Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win against Swiss power hitter Timea Bacsinszky on Thursday.
Time is running out for Serena to reach the career milestone that has become one of the sport's longest running storylines.
Serena Williams has broken her silence on Caroline Wozniacki's parody of her, saying that she did not find the impersonation racist.
World number three Serena Williams and fourth-ranked Ana Ivanovic withdrew from the WTA Championships on Friday.
The tennis champion's daring bodysuits made a comeback on the latest GQ cover.
Serena Williams was the runner-up in Flushing Meadows each of the past two years
A fatigued Sharapova lost to fellow-Russian Elena Dementieva while Williams was beaten Serbian Jelena Jankovic in the semi-finals of the Los Angeles Open.
The exodus of seeded players has been so spectacular that only one of the top 10 remains -- number seven Karolina Pliskova.
Bianca Andreescu, 19, the first Canadian to win a major in the professional era, prevented Serena Williams from equalling Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
The Romanian broke Williams's serve in the first game but that was the only one she managed for the rest of the opening set as the American bulldozed her way through the set in 20 minutes, serving it out with an ace.
Serena Williams was forced to go on the attack once again to defend equal prize money after she reached a ninth Wimbledon final in a new record time. The world number one blasted Russia's Elena Vesnina off Centre Court in just 48mins 34sec, the fastest ever semi-final at the All England Club. Vesnina earned 500,000 ($649,000) by making the last four.
Second seed Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Los Angeles Classic with a knee injury.
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.
Defending champion Serena Williams has been seeded eighth for next week's Wimbledon championships but sister Venus is lurking down at 24th after the All England Club's seedings committee met on Wednesday.
World number one Serena Williams struggled to a 7-5 5-7 6-3 win over China's Zheng Jie on Monday to earn a place in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open.
Serena Williams allowed herself a few moments to enjoy her sixth Wimbledon title before thoughts turned to New York and the elusive calendar year feat.
The players have been allowed out to practise for five hours a day during their quarantine but Djokovic said he had headed to a local park on his first morning in Australia without restrictions.
Multiple Grand Slam winner Martina Navratilova questioned the "silence" of the International Tennis Federation after one of its members described world number one Serena Williams and older sister Venus as "brothers".
Serena Williams has not won a set in any of the four Grand Slam finals she has reached since returning from maternity leave in September 2017.
Defending champion Serena Williams continued her march towards a sixth Wimbledon title with a straightforward 6-3, 6-2 second-round win over French teenager Caroline Garcia on Thursday.
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka took advantage of an error-prone display by Serena Williams to win her second BNP Paribas Open title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the final at Indian Wells in California.
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams were named men's and women's world champions for 2015 by the International Tennis Federation on Tuesday. The Serb ended the year as men's world number one for the fourth time after taking three majors - the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open, as well as finishing runner-up to Stan Wawrinka in the French. Williams also narrowly missed a calendar-year grand slam, winning the Australian, French and Wimbledon and reaching semi-final at US Open.
Coco Gauff ended local heroine Lois Boisson's dream run at the French Open with a ruthless 6-1, 6-2 victory on Thursday to set up a final clash with top seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Serena Williams sounded an ominous warning to her rivals that she will be a genuine contender at the US Open after winning the Stanford Classic on Sunday in her third tournament back from injury.
Serena Williams has gone 3-2 in matches that all lasted three sets and have taken a toll on her weary legs.
Serena Williams withdrew before the start of her BNP Paribas Open.
World No 1 Serena Williams inflicted swift revenge on behalf of her older sister when she beat Britain's Laura Robson 6-2, 6-2 in the Rome Masters on Tuesday.
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.
A rusty Venus Williams was blown away 6-3, 6-2 by rising British left-hander Laura Robson at the Rome Masters tennis on Monday.
Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman and more than a dozen former US women's national team players have formed an ownership group to set up a professional women's soccer team in Los Angeles from 2022. The new team, which has yet to be named, was announced by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) on Tuesday.
The president of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpischev has been fined $25,000 and banned from the women's tour for a year after referring to Serena and Venus Williams as "the Williams brothers" on a television chat show last week.
Former champions Michael Stich and John McEnroe slammed Serena Williams saying the American resorted to unfair tactics during her victory over Daniela Hantuchova.
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