Factbox on Maria Sharapova, who became the 10th woman to complete a career Grand Slam after beating Sara Errani to win the French Open title on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck the winning goal to help Real Madrid become European champions, while Marin Cilic made an impressive comeback after a ban to claim the US Open crown in September. Also, Germany defeated Argentina to become football world champions. Rediff.com brings you the last instalment of the Best Sports Photos of the Year!
Fresh-faced Germany were made to work harder than expected in their 3-2 victory over Australia in their Confederations Cup Group B debut on Monday with the world champions' young squad still adjusting to tournament life.
It marked the first major meeting between the two countries since President Trump pulled US armed forces out of northern Syria.
Russian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton might cover the distance in a matter of minutes but it has taken more than half a century for Mercedes to add their names to the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Williams.
Russian police arrested four gay rights protesters who unfurled a banner in St Petersburg on Friday declaring "Discrimination is incompatible with the Olympic Movement", gay rights group All Out said.
The leader of an Islamist insurgency in Russia's North Caucasus region urged followers on Wednesday to use "maximum force" to prevent President Vladimir Putin staging the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
Brazil's Willian told reporters he will be doing everything he can to send his team mate Eden Hazard home early from Russia.
Beijing staked its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, which if selected will earn the Chinese capital the distinction of being the first city to organise both summer and winter versions of the Games.
Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi will renew old acquaintances when his reigning two-times Copa America champions take on Portugal in what he expects to be a tough Confederations Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Russia's disabled athletes will not be allowed to compete as neutrals at this month's Rio de Janeiro Paralympics after their country was banned because of a state-sponsored sports doping programme. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said in a statement on Thursday it had rejected more than 175 Russian athletes who filed individual cases to try to take part in the Brazil event. "The International Paralympic Committee ... will not allow individual Russian athletes to participate as neutral athletes at the Rio Games", the organisation said on its website (www.paralympic.org).
However, there is no official word on whether there will be any interaction between Modi and Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain, who is scheduled to attend the meeting in China.
Russian teenager Alina Zagitova edged compatriot Evgenia Medvedeva with a stunning free skate on Friday that earned the Olympic Athletes from Russia a first gold at the Pyeongchang Games.
Shiva Keshavan wants to overcome a recent injury and end his international career with a flourish during the Pyeongchang Games, starting this week.
Rediff.com brings you these and other exciting news from the week gone by in this photo feature...
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
A Russian medallist at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is suspected of having tested positive for a banned substance, a source at the Games said on Sunday, in a potential major blow to Russia's efforts to emerge from a drug-cheating scandal.
The Russians had appealed their exclusion from the Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over the doping scandal from the 2014 Sochi Games.
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia could stake a claim to host future summer Olympics games, but had not yet lodged a formal bid to do so, Russian news agencies reported.
Russia has promised all possible support to Pakistan in dealing with catastrophic floods, even as the second Russian Il-76 cargo plane with emergency relief is scheduled to land in Islamabad on Thursday.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will host a quadrilateral summit with leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan on Wednesday to discuss the situation in the volatile Af-Pak region.
Many Russian soccer fans believe their underdog national team can pull off another upset when they take on Croatia in the World Cup quarter-finals later on Saturday, allowing them to stay in the tournament against the odds.
The favourites to win next year's World Cup in Russia were given navigable paths to the last 16 with the coaches of Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Spain having reason to feel reasonably optimistic after Friday's draw.
Russia forward Denis Cheryshev said he got quite emotional after his team upset the odds to eliminate highly fancied Spain at the World Cup and move unexpectedly to the last eight, sending football fever to sky high levels in the host country.
Disruption and police intrusions marred Russia's first open Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) athletic competition this week, organisers said.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel could see his hopes of a fifth Formula One world title fading with the Sochi sunset on Sunday after falling 50 points behind Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton with five races remaining.
Mathew Ryan asked his family if anyone wanted to come and watch him play in the World Cup in Russia, there was an enthusiastic response - from 27 of them.
Breakdancing, considered one of the pillars of hip-hop culture, will also make its Asian Games bow in 2022, two years before it features in the Olympics for the first time in Paris.
Nico Rosberg will have Formula One history in his sights in Spain this weekend, even if Dutch teenager Max Verstappen seizes his share of the limelight. The championship leader has won seven races in a row, including the last three of 2015, and can join fellow-German Michael Schumacher (2004) and Britain's Nigel Mansell (1992) as the only drivers to start a season with five successive victories. The chances of that happening looked remote this time last year, when Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton had won three of the first four and was heading for a third title, but Rosberg is now 43 points clear of the Briton. As 18-year-old Verstappen would agree, after his rapid promotion from Toro Rosso in a swap with demoted Russian Daniil Kvyat, Formula One moves fast off the track as well as on it. "I'm just enjoying the moment and the form I'm in, doing my best to keep it going and hoping I can carry it through to the end of the season," said Rosberg, 11/10 at bookmakers' William Hill with Hamilton at 5/4.
Dries Mertens and Michy Batshuayi were also on target for Belgium while Eden Hazard impressed with creativity and speed for the hosts, who start their World Cup campaign on Monday against Panama in Sochi.
The most popular athletes on Tinder at the Olympics in Pyeongchang are male bobsledders and female snowboarders, the dating app said.
Vandoorne qualified 17th at the previous race in Bahrain, 16th in China and 18th in the Australian season-opener, with 20 cars on the grid.
Following the ban on Russia in 2016, Russian athletes have been allowed to participate as neutrals at various events by the IAAF. For Tokyo, WADA will lay down a uniform criterion for all sporting disciplines to accept.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand named Grzegorz Gazewski of Poland as the lone new inclusion in his team, putting to end speculations that he had made big changes for the World Chess Championship match against Magnus Carlsen, starting in Sochi on Saturday.
Ole Einar Bjoerndalen earned his 13th Olympic medal on Wednesday to become the most decorated Winter Games athlete when Norway won gold in the biathlon mixed relay.
Russia and Ukraine will be put into different groups at the 2018 World Cup finals if the Ukrainians qualify and relations between the two countries do not improve, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday.
Croatia progressed to the semi-finals of the World Cup after a second successive penalty shootout on Saturday but their inability to put away another unimpressive team over 90 minutes and extra time is a major worry for the Balkan side.
The last time Stanislav Cherchesov walked out at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium to face Fernando Hierro's side, the Spaniards were heavy favourites but the Russians reached the next round.
Russian freestyle wrestler Besik Kudukhov has died at the age of 27 following a car accident on Sunday, the domestic federation said.
Olympic officials have showered praise on South Korea's Winter Games organisers for staging a successful event against the odds, but they have also left it with a warning: don't leave any white elephants behind.