Comeback queen Serena Williams crushed Germany's Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-2 to move into the final of the Stanford Classic on Saturday.
Germany central defender Jerome Boateng has questioned whether England have enough quality to excel at next month's European Championship. Despite having the world's richest league, England go into the competition in France having not won a major tournament since landing the 1966 World Cup on home soil. "England beat us 3-2 in Berlin (in March) but I do not know if in matters of quality and consistency they have enough for an entire tournament," Boateng told German Railway DB Mobil magazine.
Kim Clijsters suffered an injury scare ahead of her Australian Open defence when she was forced to retire from her Brisbane International semi-final against Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova on Friday.
Indian wildcard entrant Yuki Bhambri shocked higher ranked Karol Beck of Slovakia 6-2, 6-3 to make the second round of the ATP Aircel Chennai Open tennis tournament on Monday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Ajay Jayaram beat 15th seed Kenichi Tago of Japan 21-12, 21-19 in a 40-minute first round contest. The unseeded Indian will next meet Vladimir Ivanov of Russia, who defeated Michal Matejka of Slovakia 21-10, 21-6 in another opening round match.
Kveta Peschke and Lucie Hradecka beat Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2 in the decisive doubles to give the Czech Republic a 3-2 win over Russia in the Fed Cup final on Sunday, clinching the country's first title as an independent nation.
Mario Mandzukic and Nikola Kalinic grabbed hat-tricks as Croatia achieved a record win as an independent nation by demolishing San Marino 10-0 in their final Euro 2016 warm-up match in Rijeka.
Rafael Nadal extended his astonishing winning run on clay to 42 consecutive sets as he reached the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Slovakia's Martin Klizan.
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has said he expects to make his first-team return from a knee ligament injury next month.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Australia eased ahead of Bosnia 2-0 as John Millman thumped Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-2 while Alex de Minaur overcame Mirza Basic 6-3, 7-6(0), before Millman revealed the team's larger goal under captain Lleyton Hewitt.
Images from Day 4 of the French Open, at Roland Garros, in Paris.
World number two and top seed Caroline Wozniacki, runner-up at the south coast event last year, cruised into the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Australia's Ashleigh Barty.
Wales will need to defend deep if they are to stifle England captain Wayne Rooney's influence on their European Championship clash on Thursday.
Rediff.com lists 10 new countries that were formed over the last two decades
Losing striker Jamie Vardy to Arsenal could spark an exodus of players from Leicester City, former defender Gerry Taggart has said, adding that the move could be catastrophic for the Premier League champions. Arsenal tabled a bid for Vardy before he left for the European Championship in France with the rest of England's squad on Monday, according to British media reports. The 29-year-old was the joint second-highest scorer in the English top-flight last season and Arsenal's bid comes at an uncomfortable time for England, whose manager Roy Hodgson has banned players' agents from the team hotel in Chantilly to avoid his players being distracted. "If Vardy goes then one or two others might want to leave as well," Taggart, who made over 100 appearances for Leicester, told the BBC. "For the good of the whole team and the club it is important Vardy stays."
Jarmila Groth marked her first Fed Cup appearance for Australia with a shock win against French Open champion Francesca Schiavone as holders Italy shared the opening singles in their first round tie in Hobart on Saturday.
Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi eked out a hard earned win over Michael Mertinak of Slovakia and Dick Norman of Belgium to book a place in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open.
Former European champions Red Star Belgrade, Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic all made it comfortably through to the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday after surviving away legs.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki reeled off 12 successive games to ease into the semi-finals of the Qatar Open after a 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Italian Flavia Pennetta on Thursday.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki moved into the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian Nadia Petrova but third seed Francesca Schiavone was upset by China's Peng Shuai on Wednesday.
The 15-year-old from Aizwal, who is also a world youth silver-medallist, lifted a total of 274 kg (124 kg +150 kg) to finish on top.
Little-known 21-year-old Andrej Martin of Slovakia created the biggest upset in the Singapore ATP Challenger, upsetting Asian Games gold medalist and top seed Somdev Devevarman of India to enter the semi-finals on Friday. On a cloudy day at the Kallang Tennis Centre, the 177-ranked Martin outpaced Somdev to register a 6-3, 6-4 win in 85 minutes.
Netherlands' playmaker Wesley Sneijder has been credited with his team's opening goal in their 2-1 quarter-final victory over Brazil by FIFA's Technical Study Group.
Canada's Milos Raonic pounded 17 aces to end the winning run of second seeded and Commonwealth gold medallist Somdev Devvarman and create the biggest upset of the day in the $1,25,000 Tashkent Challenger, on Thursday. The 155-ranked Raonic beat the 95th ranked Somdev 6-4, 7-6(3) in an hour and 18 minutes.
Last week, Court wrote an open letter to Qantas Airlines opposing their support of same-sex marriage and her beliefs were condemned by several current and former players, including Australia's Samantha Stosur, Nick Kyrgios and Jaimee Fourlis.
After two weeks of increasingly exciting football in South Africa, some huge names are out: Italy and France. Some smaller ones -- most notably Slovakia -- have triumphed against the odds to win a second round place.
Andy Murray's thoughts turned to a baby sparrow accidentally killed by brother Jamie moments after reaching the second round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki's preparations for the Australian Open suffered a major setback when she was knocked out of the Sydney International in her first competitive match of the year on Tuesday.
Top seed Rafa Nadal, who has won the tournament 10 times, also reached the last eight after dispatching compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-3 and claiming a record-extending 40th consecutive set on clay.
Sania Mirza and her Italian partner Maria Elena Camerin entered the doubles quarter-finals of the Tashkent Open with a straight-set win over Lyudmyla and Nadiya Kichenok, in Tashkent on Wednesday.
Young Libertad striker Rodolfo Gamarra was a surprise inclusion in Paraguay's 23-man World Cup squad on Monday.
Provoking England midfielder Dele Alli could end up being a plan that backfires, Wales defender and Tottenham Hotspur teammate Ben Davies has said ahead of their Euro 2016 Group B encounter in Lens on Thursday.
Kolpak deals to end; Cricket South Africa's Graeme Smith says they will welcome back any former Kolpak players who are willing to be part of the domestic structures.
Round up of the Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Petra Kvitova takes on Naomi Osaka in Saturday's Australian Open final with one of them set to emerge as a fresh champion at Melbourne Park.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi advanced to the semi-finals while Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi sealed a quarter-final berth in the Valencia Open.
Spain, chasing an unprecedented third successive European Championship title and looking forward to facing Germany or Slovakia in the next round, have the upper hand in recent history, having not lost a competitive match against Italy since the 1994 World Cup.
Former Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard successfully negotiated the qualifying draw on Thursday, beating Colombian Mariana Duque-Marino 6-3, 6-2 to secure a spot in next week's main draw.
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