Serena Williams' bid for the Italian Open was squashed in her first match on Tuesday when the American second seed lost 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 to Swiss Patty Schnyder. French Open champion Ana Ivanovic beat Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-4 and seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia had a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over Slovak Daniela Hantuchova.
Russian Sharapova pulled out because of a hamstring injury while Serena is still down with flu.
Serena Williams, who has dropped to 172nd in the world after being sidelined for almost a year with injury and illness, has opted to use an injury-protected ranking to gain entry into the US Open, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said on Wednesday.
Serena Williams returned to the top of the WTA world rankings on Monday and immediately shared the news with her unborn baby.
The thought of playing a long match in the extreme Melbourne heat resulted in a sleepless night for Serena Williams, but the World No 1 need not have worried as she strode swiftly into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday.
While her career has featured a number of highs -- she has won two doubles Grand Slam titles and 11 WTA titles, including the Cincinnati Masters -- Garcia said she has become fixated on what she sees as her failures.
World number one Serena Williams raced into the quarter-finals of the Paris Open with a 6-1, 6-2 demolition of Croatian qualifier Karolina Sprem on Thursday. The American top seed, who won the tournament in 1999 and 2003, will face France's Emilie Loit for a semi-final spot on Friday.
Petra Kvitova is not the type to talk herself up even if she does arrive at Wimbledon as the defending champion.
Venus and Serena Williams won the 2009 Australian Open women's doubles title, beating Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova and Japan's Ai Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-3 in the final in Melbourne on Friday. The tenth-seeded American sisters captured their eighth Grand Slam doubles title in the process, having also won the Australian Open in 2001 and 2003.
Serena Williams is unlikely to win a record equalling 24th Grand slam title on the claycourts of Roland Garros, although her chance will come, the American's long-time coach Patrick Mouratoglou said on Friday.
The former world No.1 told organisers of the Perth event that she wants to concentrate on defending her title at the Australian Open.
Venus and Serena Williams enter the women's Wimbledon quarter-finals on Tuesday with even their next opponents conceding they are strong favourites for another final appearance. Defending champion Venus faces Tamarine Tanasurgan and the unseeded Thai, who defeated second seed Jelena Jankovic to reach her first grand slam quarter-final, is not brimming with confidence.
World number two Serena Williams retired from her first-round match against Francesca Schiavone at the Madrid Open Monday with a knee injury after losing the first set to the Italian.
Serena Williams summoned all her fighting qualities to beat Victoria Azarenka 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 at the Australian Open on Wednesday after sister Venus's exit. Li Na earlier stunned Venus to become just the second Chinese to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam.
Victory in Melbourne would be sure to put a smile on her face, though. It would give her the oft-mentioned 'Serena Slam'.
The top seed celebrated her 23rd birthday with a come-from-behind win over Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final.
Serena Williams enters the Australian Open as a strong favourite to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup but is all too aware that a sixth Melbourne Park title has now eluded her for five years.
World number one Serena Williams survived a scare to beat China's Li Na 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 on Wednesday and reach the Sony Ericsson Open semi-finals -- where she will meet her sister Venus.
Serena Williams takes centre stage on Centre Court when she lines up opposite 16-year-old Tatiana Golovin.
Venus Williams' return to Indian Wells lasted just one match but sister Serena looked poised for a long run after a dominant win at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday. Venus returned to the event for the first time since 2001, having boycotted it after being booed and heckled by fans during her previous trip, but made a quick exit after a 6-4 6-3 defeat to Japanese qualifier Kurumi Nara in the second round. The 15-year-old incident had occurred when Venus withdrew from a semi-final match with Serena, drawing ire from the crowd aimed at the Williams family. This time, though, Venus was greeted warmly by the crowd before her match and throughout it, a consolation for her poor performance. "It was enough of a fairytale to come here and play," Venus told reporters. "A win would have been nice, but that means I have to come back, play next year."
US Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison has picked both Williams sisters in her squad to face Russia in next month's semi-final.
Clijsters completed her inexorable progress to Sunday's final with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sugiyama.
Paths to the final in the women's singles at the U.S. Open (prefix denotes seedings)
Serena Williams did not need the help of a fan-filled Arthur Ashe Stadium to provide a lift during her 7-5, 6-4 win over the 96th ranked Kristie Ahn.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion shared some tips for alleviating sinus pain and getting on with an active lifestyle.
Miami is one of the favourite stops on the WTA Tour because of the city's hip, youthful vibe but the final of Sony Open on Saturday was more about the golden oldies as Serena Williams and Li Na took centre stage.
Seventh-seeded Briton Tim Henman was a surprise loser, however, as he went out 7-6 2-6 7-6 to world number 64 Juergen Melzer at the Nasdaq-100 Open.
Aaron Michael Hammer (24) was charged with shooting the eldest sister of the tennis star as she was sitting in a car with a man.
Rafael Nadal thumped Canada's Milos Raonic while to capture his eighth ATP title this season while Serena Williams crushed Romania's Sorana Cirstea in the final of the Rogers Cup on Sunday.
World number one Serena Williams was battered into a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 submission by a fired-up Nadia Petrova in the third round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
Fifth seed Serena Williams reached the Family Circle Cup final by beating French teenager Alize Cornet 7-5 6-3 on Saturday. The 26-year-old next faces ninth seed Vera Zvonareva, who upset fellow-Russian Elena Dementieva, the fourth seed, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in a wildly fluctuating semi-final.
Serena Williams was in no mood to allow a painful tumble to divert her from her path to a sixth Australian Open title on Tuesday and duly delivered a resounding 6-0, 6-0 win to open her campaign at the year's first Grand Slam.
Serena Williams hit top gear in deposing champion Petra Kvitova and ominously for her Wimbledon semi-final opponent Victoria Azarenka the four-times champion says she has nothing to lose in the last-four clash on Thursday.
Second seed Serena Williams recovered from match point down to beat Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva 6-7, 7-5, 8-6 in a nailbiting semi-final at Wimbledon on Thursday.
Six months after she nearly died, Serena Williams finds herself carrying the hopes of a grieving nation at the US Open.
Ask Serena Williams about her dog, her stick-men self portraits or the quirky names she gives her multiple personalities and she will happily chew your ear off; mention her tennis and words are few and far between.
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