Serena Williams will try to take a step closer to history on Saturday when she plays her third-round match at the US Open.
Paths to the final in the women's singles at the U.S. Open (prefix denotes seedings)
Zhang Shuai was aware of the risks involved when she opted to "Fly Alone" two months ago but the 24-year-old Chinese now stands vindicated after winning her maiden WTA Tour title on Saturday.
Venus Williams' return to Indian Wells lasted just one match but sister Serena looked poised for a long run after a dominant win at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday. Venus returned to the event for the first time since 2001, having boycotted it after being booed and heckled by fans during her previous trip, but made a quick exit after a 6-4 6-3 defeat to Japanese qualifier Kurumi Nara in the second round. The 15-year-old incident had occurred when Venus withdrew from a semi-final match with Serena, drawing ire from the crowd aimed at the Williams family. This time, though, Venus was greeted warmly by the crowd before her match and throughout it, a consolation for her poor performance. "It was enough of a fairytale to come here and play," Venus told reporters. "A win would have been nice, but that means I have to come back, play next year."
Serena Williams started her quest to join Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova in joint fourth place on the career Grand Slam list with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over 18-year-old fellow American Taylor Townsend at the US Open on Tuesday.
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza received a confidence booster ahead of the US Open Grand Slam tournament beginning, on Monday, with a doubles title victory at the Connecticut Open with Monica Niculescu of Romania, in New Haven, USA.
Vallabhbhai Patel's great claim to fame originated from his steely leadership of a struggle against a repressive regime, a good three decades before the achievement of states unification, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
The Maria Sharapova-Jimmy Connors partnership got off to a rocky start on Tuesday as Sloane Stephens shocked the third ranked Russian 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 at the Western and Southern Open.
Former World No 1 Ana Ivanovic was upset 7-5, 6-4 by 42nd-ranked Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the second round of the US Open on Thursday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams advanced safely to the next round of the US Open on Saturday but the women's draw saw yet another big upset as Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova was sent packing by a 145th-ranked qualifier.
Dr Manjul Bhargava speaks to P Rajendran about winning the Fields Medal, math's biggest global honour.
