With the American men experiencing their longest US Open title drought in the Open era, Venus Williams led the American charge into round two on Monday with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
US tennis powerhouse Serena Williams dispatched France's Alize Cornet in two sets on Monday, ending a streak of weak family performances that saw older sister Venus eliminated from singles on Saturday and the pair knocked out in doubles on Sunday.
Professional soccer leagues around Europe are gearing up for a return to action following the novel coronavirus stoppage, but some are more advanced than others.
The partnership has been rolled out by Zomato to users in 27 cities across 13 countrie
Celebrated Indian woman boxer L Sarita Devi comfortably outpunched Zsofia Bedo of Hungary to make a winning start to her professional career in the IBC Fight Night at the at the Khuman Lampak Stadium, in Imphal on Sunday.
If England coach Roy Hodgson's two halftime substitutions proved decisive in turning the tide in their 2-1 victory over Wales on Thursday, he still risked a charge of not having made them before the game rather than midway through. As usual, however, the result was all and a win enabled the normally conservative Hodgson to claim justification for his strategy. Others will question whether his loyalty to Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane, both poor for the second successive match, might have been costly in terms of both England's qualification and, after that, his own job prospects.
England and Russia are the big beasts of Group B and, though each would love a winning start when they meet on Saturday, the fear of losing could well become all-pervading and lead to a cagey encounter. With games against Wales and Slovakia to come, and the potential for three teams to qualify with two guaranteed, a point at the Velodrome might look a very useful result in a couple of weeks. England, on the back of winning all 10 qualifiers, not to mention a rare victory in Germany in a friendly, start favourites and will expect to make the running in front of a 60,000 crowd that will be predominantly behind them.
Fourth seed Kei Nishikori's hopes of making another magical U.S. Open run came to a quick end on Monday as last year's runner-up fell at the first hurdle, falling 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 to Frenchman Benoit Paire.
Businesses have been reluctant to talk about contingency plans for Brexit
An emotional and apologetic Sam Allardyce said on Wednesday an error of judgement had led to his shock exit as England manager following a newspaper sting.
The coach of Ana Ivanovic, and father-in-law of men's world number two Andy Murray, collapsed in the stands at Rod Laver Arena during the Serb's third round clash with American Madison Keys on Saturday, causing play to be suspended indefinitely.
England's Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy struck in a 2-1 friendly win over fellow Euro 2016 finalists Turkey on Sunday as the home side warmed up with a performance that highlighted their potency in attack and defensive limitations.
Serena Williams sets up an all-American semi-final against teenager Madison Keys.
Rediff.com encapsulates all the excitement through these breathtaking visuals from the Dakar Rally.
Third seed Rafael Nadal battled through mid-match cramps for more than an hour before he lurched into the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-5 victory over American qualifier Tim Smyzcek.
Cesc Fabregas struck the winner as an experimental Spain side came from behind to beat Costa Rica 2-1.
Dominika Cibulkova kept her hopes of reaching the last four of the WTA Finals alive with a gritty 6-3, 7-6(5) Red Group victory over Simona Halep at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Thursday.
Images from Day 1 of the US Open in New York, on Monday.
List of Australian Open women's singles champions since the event began in 1922 (Australian unless stated):
It will be virgin territory for Wales when they face Portugal in the Euro 2016 semi-finals yet their opponents could be forgiven a sense of deja vu as they step on to the pitch in Lyon on Wednesday.
Unbeaten with demolishing victories in the previous three contests, star Indian boxer Vijender Singh will take on a slightly more experienced Hungarian Alexander Horvath in his fourth professional bout on March 12 in Liverpool. Vijender is preparing for a homecoming to India in June when he will fight maiden title bout -- the WBO Asia belt. The in-form middleweight has been unbeaten in the circuit, having clinched all his three wins by knockouts in only six rounds of action since his pro debut last October. Vijender will have no time to rest as he has another big fight lined up just three weeks' later at the Harrow Sports Centre, London, as he builds towards his ground-breaking title opportunity in India. Horvath comes into the fight against Vijender with a record of five wins from seven fights. The 20-year-old has the edge in experience over Singh with 31 rounds under his belt and has no fear of fighting abroad, taking bouts in Slovakia and France. "It's my absolute dream to fight back home in India in front of my countrymen and women so I won't let Horvath get in my way of that at all," stated Vijender Singh. "I need to continue my unbeaten record and it's important that I put on a commanding performance against Horvath and then next at Harrow to keep on course for my title shot and my homecoming," he said. Speaking about his opponent, Vijender said he does not consider Hungarian a major threat. "Horvath is a good solid opponent, maybe he will give me a few new tests, he has done more rounds than me and has a bit more experience, but will that compete with the power that I have and when I start landing my shots. "I don't believe that he'll be standing around for too long," he said. "I'm really excited as this is my first fight of the year and there are big plans ahead so I aim to make a very big statement of intent in Liverpool against Horvath that will show that I'm ready to fight for a title later this year."
Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh (49kg) stormed into the semi-finals, while Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) entered the quarters to be just one win away from clinching Olympic berths at the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament in Baku on Tuesday.
Wales enjoyed their greatest day in football for more than half a century by overwhelming Russia 3-0 in Toulouse on Monday to win Group B at Euro 2016 ahead of their oldest rivals England.
Indian challenge ended at the Hong Kong Open World Tour Super 500 tournament after Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma lost their respective men's singles quarterfinal matches on Friday.
For all the positives that England can take from their performance against Russia in their opening Euro 2016 game there remains the worrying issue that their sophisticated modern defenders remain vulnerable to the most basic of attacking ploys -- a long punt into the box.
World number one Novak Djokovic survived a second set fightback from Slovak Martin Klizan before winning his opening match at the Miami Open 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.
When England fans sang about '30 years of hurt' at Euro '96 they had high hopes of ending the pain with a first trophy since the 1966 World Cup but 20 years on from that agonising near miss there is precious little optimism in the air.
Liverpool were left frustrated by Championship side Blackburn Rovers who defended heroically to draw 0-0 at Anfield.
Check out the gold medallists on Friday, Day 14 of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Defending champion Angelique Kerber battled her nerves and blew a match point in the second set before finally overcoming Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to reach the second round.
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.
Title contenders Germany will come face to face with their ultimate tournament nightmare when they take on Italy in their Euro 2016 quarter-final in Bordeaux on Saturday.
England's 2-1 defeat by Iceland at Euro 2016 may have looked like one of the worst reverses in their history yet in many was it was a perfectly logical result.
Iceland have already exceeded expectations by qualifying second in their group behind Hungary and will go into the game with nothing to lose and the whole world, beyond England, willing them on.
The 2016 Euro moves to its knockout rounds with eight teams taking an early flight home. The group stages saw some memorable action in which many records broken. Rediff.com takes a look at the standout stats from the 36 matches in the preliminary round.
JLR is the UK's largest carmaker, which has witnessed a complete turnaround in its fortunes since Tata Motors acquired the traditional British brands from Ford 10 years ago.
From sharp, flying tackles and tough possession-fights, bloodied noses to scissor kicks in attempt to finding those crucial goals and the ecstatic celebrations thereafter, Rediff.com gives you a quick rewind of all the excitement that has transpired over the last five days across France...
World champions Germany and perennial also-rans Albania do not share much in common in football but both were united in joy on Sunday when they qualified for Euro 2016 in France along with Romania and Poland.
