Serena Williams remains on course for a record sixth win at the Sony Ericsson Open after beating sister Venus 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a final meeting with 19-year-old Belarusian Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka defeated Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in Thursday's other semi-final to book her place in a top tier final for the first time.
Williams has not played competitively for nearly eight months after undergoing a knee operation but had hoped to make her comeback at the $600,000 event in Doha.
Williams, who played an exhibition match last December in the United Arab Emirates, where she lost to French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, said in addition to working on her serve and returns, she needs to manage her time better now that she has her daughter in tow.
Serena Williams was recovering at her Los Angeles home after undergoing emergency treatment for a blood clot in one of her lungs, the former world number one confirmed on Wednesday.
Champion Serena Williams has withdrawn from January's Australian Open as she struggles to recover from a foot injury, which has sidelined her since July, organisers said on Thursday.
A summary of the first day's play at the US Open.
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic was handed a danger filled path to the final of the US Open and a possible showdown with No 2 Roger Federer after Thursday's draw for the season's final Grand Slam.
Serena Williams finished her last U.S. Open tune-up in style by blowing away Serbian Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-1 to win her first title at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Sunday.
World No 1 Serena Williams won a tense battle of U.S. Open champions by beating Australia's Samantha Stosur 7-6(7), 7-6(7) on Wednesday to reach the third round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Top seed Serena Williams won the final eight games to rout Andrea Petkovic in the semi-final at the Stanford Classic in California on Saturday.
A competitor lambasted the French Open as "one big circus" on Thursday as soggy weather once again came back to exasperate players seeking a foothold in the semi-finals of the rain-hit claycourt major.
Serena Williams beat France's Mathilde Johansson 6-2, 7-5 while Andy Murray disposed clay-specialist Jose Acasuso 6-4, 6-0, 6-4.
Having played just one tournament since mid-September due to various injuries and a recent bout of flu, Serena Williams is now itching to get back into competition with the Rio Olympics among her top priorities for the year.
Dinara Safina won a great scrap with fifth seed Serena Williams 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 to reach the German Open semi-finals.
Serena Williams showed tennis was not just the domain of teenagers as she climbed back to the top of the world rankings on Friday, becoming the oldest female to hold the coveted position at the age of 31.
German veteran Tommy Haas provided a reminder of his claycourt skills to beat Stanislas Wawrinka on Thursday and reach the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters where Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray will resume their rivalry.
Serena Williams applied some coaching tips from older sister Venus in her 6-3 6-2 thumping of sixth-seeded Dinara Safina on Friday that put the American into the finals of the US Open.
Serena Williams said on Thursday she is treating the upcoming US Open just like any other, even though she is well aware of the historical impact the year's final Grand Slam may have.
