World number one Novak Djokovic overpowered Dennis Novak after Dusan Lajovic battled past Gerald Melzer and Serbia went on to a 3-0 win in their opener against Group F hosts Austria in the Davis Cup Finals in Innsbruck on Friday.
Friday's match was a straight shootout for a last-four place, with world number five Rublev the favourite having won his four previous matches against Ruud.
Novak Djokovic secured a semi-final place at the ATP Finals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian Andrey Rublev on Wednesday, his 50th match win of the year, while Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from the tournament due to an elbow injury.
Benfica kept alive their dream of a first European trophy in 52 years after a goalless draw with Juventus in Turin on Thursday helped the newly-crowned Portuguese champions win their Europa League semi-final 2-1 on aggregate.
World champions France won the Nations League final with goals from Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe earning them a 2-1 win over Spain at the San Siro stadium on Sunday.
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It was the Portuguese who emphatically came out on top, scoring two penalties as Juventus triumphed 3-0 to claim top spot in Group G.
The Champions League will resume in August after being halted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a 'Final Eight' tournament being held in Lisbon after the remaining second-leg games from the last 16 ties are decided.
Goals in each half from Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic earned defending champions Chelsea a solid 2-0 first-leg victory over Lille in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday.
Images from football action around European leagues played on Sunday
The ATP Finals, in its 50th edition, is being staged in London's O2 Arena for the 12th and last time before it moves to Turin and sadly plans for a vibrant farewell party in front of the usual sell-out crowds has been scuppered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bayern Munich thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 5-1, while Barcelona came from behind to beat Valencia 3-1 in LaLiga at Camp Nou on Sunday.
Needing one point, Juventus got off to a dreadful start when they fell behind to a Nikola Milenkovic goal in the sixth minute, the Serb firing into the roof off the net from close range.
Having knocked out Real Madrid with a 4-1 win at the Bernabeu in the previous round, Ajax came from behind to beat Juventus 2-1 in Turin and complete a remarkable 3-2 aggregate win in their quarter-final.
There has been no official confirmation of the agreement from either club but Sarri, who won the Europa League with Chelsea, is expected to sign a three-year contract, Sky reported.
Italian top seed Matteo Berrettini marked himself down as a genuine Wimbledon threat after beating Britain's Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 to win the Queen's Club title on Sunday.
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His records are a witness of his greatness. The year-on-year improvement speaks volumes of the Ronaldo's commitment.
Second-placed Sevilla were held to a 1-1 draw by Barcelona, while Juventus registered a routine 2-0 win over struggling Cagliari.
Stefano Sturaro, who joined Genoa on loan from Juventus in January before the deal was made permanent, put the home side in front in the second half before fellow substitute Goran Pandev secured the shock result with 10 minutes remaining.
Serie A clubs voted earlier this month to restart on June 13 but the government has since extended its ban on sporting events until June 14.
Five images from last week's action in Europe for you to savour.
Real appointed former Spain manager Julen Lopetegui on Tuesday, but Allegri had been among the front-runners to take over from Zidane, who quit after winning a remarkable three successive Champions League trophies.
Italy will even be back to four teams in the Champions League group stage this season -- although that is thanks to a controversial re-formulation of the competition by UEFA rather than a significant improvement in performances by Serie A clubs.
IMAGES from Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
They say never go back, but United fans had been longing for Ronaldo to rejoin their side for many years, more in forlorn hope than anything else.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner returned to his homeland prior to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down football around the world.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
World champions France recovered from two goals down to beat Belgium 3-2 in a thrilling Nations League semi-final on Thursday with a last-minute strike from Theo Hernandez securing a place in Sunday's showpiece match against Spain.
Juventus are desperate to win a first Champions League title in a quarter of a century
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone is renowned for his wild touchline antics but a shrewd tactical move with a triple substitution swung Wednesday's Champions League game against Juventus firmly his side's way.
Juventus defender Daniele Rugani said he is fine on Thursday, shortly after his club said he had tested positive for coronavirus, the first player in Serie A to do so. Sampdoria's Manolo Gabbiadini has become the second Serie A player to test positive for the coronavirus.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Italian authorities will close the airspace over Turin on Friday during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
Images from the Serie A and La Liga matches played on Saturday.
AC Milan scraped a 1-0 win over third tier Alessandria thanks to a Mario Balotelli penalty, his first goal for four months, in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final.
Juventus, with 66 points from 27 games and chasing a ninth successive title, extended their lead to four points over Lazio, who visit Atalanta on Wednesday. Bologna are 10th.
Djokovic was soundly beaten by Zverev in the 2018 final, a match played out in an electrifying atmosphere in front of 18,000 fans. This time the arena was empty because of the COVID-19 lockdown, a surreal backdrop for a match with so much riding on it for both men.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
