It would be hard to bet against the Williams sisters meeting in their first Wimbledon final since 2009, but Angelique Kerber and Elena Vesnina won't just be making up the numbers in the last four on Thursday. While unseeded Vesnina has described her semi-final against world number one Serena Williams as a dream, she is playing inspired tennis, bringing the guile from two doubles slams to deliver baseline power and a deft touch at the net.
The hard court, outdoor competition in Lexington, Kentucky, marked the WTA's first tournament in the United States since the coronavirus outbreak forced almost all sport into a long break earlier this year.
A summary of Friday's tennis action from around the world.
Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas slayed another tennis giant on Saturday, saving a match point as he toppled big-serving Kevin Anderson 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(7) in a thriller to set up a Rogers Cup final against top seed Rafael Nadal.
Victoria Azarenka displayed the kind of form that could lead her to a hat-trick of Australian Open titles later this month by brushing aside German fourth seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-1 in the Brisbane International final on Saturday.
* Swiatek started playing tennis in an attempt to emulate her older sister, who competed briefly on the junior circuit.
To the clear delight of the fans, however, Djokovic then bounded onto the court after his practice partner had won the first set and proceeded to wrap up a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Italian teenager.
Czech Karolina Pliskova rose to the top of the WTA rankings without striking a ball on Tuesday as results at Wimbledon saw her overhaul Germany's Angelique Kerber.
Images from Day 8 of the 2022 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday.
Britain's Johanna Konta faces an anxious 24-hour wait before discovering whether she will make her debut at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Multiple grand slam champion Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Brisbane International on Tuesday after suffering an arm injury in practise less than two weeks before the Australian Open.
Even in her wildest dreams 11th seed Angelique Kerber could not have imagined that by the end of the first week of this year's Wimbledon, she would be the highest ranked player left in the top half of the women's draw.
Men's second seed Rafael Nadal starts against Israel's Dudi Sela while three-time champion Novak Djokovic faces American Tennys Sandgren.
World number one Naomi Osaka lost in three sets to unseeded Swiss Belinda Bencic in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Thursday as Simona Halep, Sloane Stephens and Kiki Bertens completed the final four line-up.
After rain led to the cancellation of all matches outside of the roof-covered Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday, the tournament looks to make up for lost time with a busy schedule featuring 87 matches.
Sizzling hot Andy Murray roared into his seventh successive final with a commanding victory over Canadian Milos Raonic at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Saturday.
IMAGES from matches on Day 9 at the French Open at Roland Garros
Novak Djokovic will begin his Australian Open title defence against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while reigning women's champion Sofia Kenin meets wild card Maddison Inglis, following the draw for the year's first Grand Slam on Friday.
World No 9 Lucie Safarova will miss this month's Australian Open as she has yet to regain full fitness following a bacterial infection last year, the Czech said on Friday.
This year's Australian Open will be allowed to admit up to 30,000 fans a day, around 50% of usual capacity, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Garbine Muguruza were named as the International Tennis Federation (ITF) world champions on Friday - the first time in 19 years the awards have gone to players from the same country.
The first stop on Serena Williams' farewell tour came to a quick end as she fell to Belinda Bencic in second-round action at the Canadian Open on Wednesday a day after announcing her forthcoming retirement from tennis.
Williams, who has been outspoken in pushing for gender and racial equality, was asked in her post-match media conference whether she should focus more on her tennis than on social issues and being a celebrity.
Karolina Pliskova won her first title of the year on Sunday with a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over American CoCo Vandeweghe in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The 30-year-old is the first German woman to win Wimbledon since Steffi Graf in 1996.
Former men's champion Mats Wilander believes third seed Muguruza now looks like the most likely champion, having not dropped a set and thrashing Maria Sharapova on Wednesday.
Wednesday's washout means Friday will now be a bumper semi-finals day as the last four matches in both singles draws will take place then.
Rafael Nadal reclaimed top spot in the men's ATP rankings on Monday
Halep finds groove to reach Prague semi-finals.
World No 1 Novak Djokovicremained on course for his fifth title of the season after defeating 11th seed Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters on Saturday.
A rampant Rafael Nadal turned on the style to beat old rival Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 6-3 on Saturday and reach his first Italian Open final since 2014. The top-seeded Spaniard will face defending champion Alexander Zverev who overcame fourth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6(13), 7-5 in the other semi-final.
Serena Williams, hoping to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title, will start her campaign against fellow American Kristie Ahn.
Zverev has not lost to Wawrinka in two previous meetings but is not taking the 2014 Melbourne Park champion lightly.
World number one Simona Halep swatted aside American Nicole Gibbs while Maria Sharapova was flawless in her straight sets victory over Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu in the opening round of the Shenzhen Open on Monday.
Factbox on Japan's Naomi Osaka, who beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win the US Open title on Saturday.
Romania's Italian Open winner Simona Halep, Spain's Garbine Muguruza and US Open semi-final foe Victoria Azarenka of Belarus present a major challenge for Serena Williams at the upcoming French Open.
Serena Williams is a year short of spending a quarter of a century as a professional player but the learning has never stopped for the 23-time Grand Slam winner.
We bring you best images from week one of the 2019 Australian Open Championships at Melbourne Park
PHOTOS from day seven of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis in London on Tuesday.
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