Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
France's Alize Cornet beat a despondent Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Dubai Championships on Friday in what the world number 26 described as the biggest win of her career.
Look who we spotted at the Flushing Meadows this year.
The mother of one arrived at the 2019 French Open making another fashion statement
Serena Williams has pulled out of this week's Dubai Tennis Championships.
More than 1,800 Thais and foreign tourists are confirmed to have died and the death toll is expected to climb.
Garbine Muguruza emerged as a favourite to win the Italian Open after beating Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko to reach the third round after world number one Angeliquer Kerber had earlier bowed out to Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit.
She will meet Anastasia Myskina or Venus Williams who were playing their semi-final later on Saturday.
Serena Williams is third on the list of female Grand Slam title winners. She is one of only five women, after Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, to hold all four Grand Slam titles at same time.
Photos from the US Open matches played on Monday
Who scored an ace in the style department? Who flopped?
Narendra Bunde, a resident of Nagpur and a 'cricket astrologer' by profession, had "foretold" last year that Mahendra Singh Dhoni, now 36, would be playing in the 2019 World Cup in England, at a time when many questioned his place in the limited overs game.
Caroline Wozniacki 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 and advance to the last four at WTA Finals on Friday, the Frenchwoman topping the Red Group after top seed Simona Halep lost later in the day.
The Serbian second seed's match against France's Adrian Mannarino was delayed because of the epic five-setter between Gilles Muller and Rafael Nadal.
It was third time lucky for American Serena Williams as she finally matched Steffi Graf's professional era record of 22 grand slam singles titles by beating Angelique Kerber to claim a seventh Wimbledon crown on Saturday.
The 15-year-old American phenom was forced to dig deep to become the youngest player since Anna Kournikova in 1996 to reach the third round
In Paes's absence, seasoned Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni will do the doubles duty in the July 17-19 tie, to be held in Christchurch.
Keys and Stephens to put friendship to grand slam test
Defending champion Sloane Stephens was sent packing from the Miami Open on Sunday after a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Germany's Tatjana Maria in the third round.
World No 1 Serena Williams inflicted swift revenge on behalf of her older sister when she beat Britain's Laura Robson 6-2, 6-2 in the Rome Masters on Tuesday.
Defending champion Jelena Jankovic ousted fellow Serb Aleksandra Krunic to reach the Hong Kong Open third round on a rain-hit Wednesday with the other singles matches suspended. Jankovic, the seventh seed, took less than 90 minutes to seal a 6-4 6-3 win over Krunic, who made six double faults and was broken twice in the opening set. "She (Krunic) is a player who is very talented and I've known her a long time," Jankovic told reporters. "I used to be her mentor and now I play against her. It's amazing to see her grow up and come to this stage.
Serena and Venus Williams set up a tantalising semi-final against each other after both won twice on Friday in the rain-affected Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina.
Maria Sharapova swept aside any fears about her fitness with a ruthless 6-0, 6-0 victory over Olga Puchkova on Monday as a trio of top women progressed with ease on the first morning of the Australian Open.
Sania Mirza and Rohana Bopanna advanced to the mixed doubles second round with their respective partners.
Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli just wants to enjoy herself and play big matches when she returns to competitive tennis in March after more than four years in retirement.
The 26-year-old first reached the top last October but lost the spot 16 weeks later having not hoisted a Grand Slam trophy.
Key facts and records of American Serena Williams and Canada's Bianca Andreescu
Serena Williams plans to play fewer tournaments in the future to aid her quest to win more Grand Slam titles, according to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic have won the last 11 Grand Slams between them and an incredible 54 since 2003.
Belgian duo Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne once again fell victim to the raw power of Williams sisters Venus and Serena.
Venus and Serena have not been beaten as a pair for 16 months now.
The 23-year-old says the points and calculations are far from her mind and it is the big events such as Wimbledon and next month's US Open that fire her up.
'I knew I was the underdog and I was just enjoying it'
Since having a child and returning to the WTA Tour Serena Williams's focus has been split between raising a family and work.
Kevin Anderson spoiled the American party at the US Open when the big-serving South African beat local favourite Sam Querrey 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-3, 7-6(7) to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final on Tuesday.
Thanks to rain, Victoria Azarenka, Venus Williams and 20 other women at the Olympics who have yet to complete a singles match could end up on court six consecutive days if they reach the gold medal round.
