Serena Williams has defeated her compatriot in four straight matches since a defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2013 Australian Open.
The 'Big Four' of men's tennis have made it into the second week of Wimbledon unscathed and largely untroubled while the women's draw remains wide open, but "Manic Monday" could offer major clues as to the destination of this year's titles.
Jennifer Brady spent two weeks in hard quarantine gathering mental strength for her tilt at a maiden Grand Slam title and will hope there is plenty in reserve when she takes on Naomi Osaka in Saturday's Australian Open final.
Defeat is never an option for Serena Williams, but the World No 1 came close to an embarrassing second-round exit at the French Open after an 'unprofessional' display on Thursday.
Djokovic, the ninth seed, was originally scheduled to play Australian Open semi-finalist Chung Hyeon but the 22-year-old South Korean withdrew with a back injury about an hour before the match was due to start.
World number one Serena Williams was at her lethal best as she crushed Romanian Simona Halep 6-0, 6-4 to romp into the semi-finals of the Western and Southern Open on Friday.
Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki face a 'humongous' match that could define their careers when they face off in Saturday's Australian Open final, says former champion Mats Wilander.
Roger Federer took 55 minutes to dispel all injury doubts with a 6-2, 6-1 routing of unheralded German Tobias Kamke in the second round of the Brisbane International on Thursday. Media speculations swirled around the fitness of the world number three less than two weeks before he launches his bid for a fifth Australian Open title and the Swiss maestro dismissed them by dropping only three games in a lop-sided contest. "I'm going to do my best to stay injury free and give myself a chance to win another grand slam," Federer said after setting up a quarter-final against Grigor Dimitrov.
Klitschko and his brother Vitali, also a former world heavyweight champion and now the mayor of Kyiv, have both taken up arms against invading Russian forces.
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World number one Rafael Nadal is reportedly being offered 1.1 million dollars per night to play in three of the eight matches of the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), which has borrowed its format from the lucrative Twenty20 tournament Indian Premier League (IPL).
Serena, a six-times champion in New York who is seeded 17th, will start her campaign against Polish world number 60 Magda Linette and could face Venus in the third round before a possible fourth-round showdown with Romanian top seed Halep.
Barcelona's star footballer Lionel Messi was named the Best International Athlete award, while Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic, who recently won the Wimbledon singles titles, were named the best male and female tennis players respectively, at the 2015 ESPY Awards in California, on Wednesday night.
A round-up of all tennis action on Saturday.
The duo could face each other at the quarter-final stage.
IMAGES from the matches played at the PNB Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Sunday
Nick Kyrgios needs to improve his fitness to have a chance of winning Grand Slams, former world number one Jim Courier said on Wednesday.
Sixth seed Andy Murray may feel the most aggrieved of the top contenders in the men's draw.
Defending champion Djokovic fired his 15th ace on match point to defeat Querrey but his serve had been an issue earlier in their second-round encounter.
Roger Federer hasn't won a Grand Slam title this year but the 17-time Grand Slam champion tops Forbes magazine's list of the 10 top tennis moneymakers, announced on Tuesday.
Serena Williams must stop giving opponents head starts if she is to come anywhere near emulating last season's feat of winning three of the year's four Grand Slams, according to former World No 1 Chris Evert.
Osaka has had to mix things up during a grinding progression to the last eight at Melbourne Park
Hopes that Serena Williams would end a 13-year boycott of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells were dashed on Friday when the World No 1 said she would not be competing in the event "after careful consideration".
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Former world number one Serena Williams looked sharp in her return to the hardcourts after a week-long break, soundly defeating Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2 on Monday to advance to the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.
Eleven-times champion Rafael Nadal booked his place in the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open semi-finals by beating German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-5 in a hard-fought match on Friday.
A summary of Wednesday's action at the US Open.
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.
Stanislas Wawrinka had to dig deep to beat Borna Coric at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday and conceded his thoughts had been far from tennis over the past few days.
Serena Williams played with fire at the French Open on Thursday but the world number one pulled through to the third round with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win against unheralded German Anna-Lena Friedsam.
Serena Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova remained on course for a heavyweight Madrid Open final.
Wimbledon's new head groundsman said on Thursday he is "100 percent happy" with the grass courts despite a string of players tumbling out of the tournament through injury.
Maria Sharapova joined Serena Williams in making an early exit from the Australian Open on Monday but defending champion Victoria Azarenka swept into the quarter-finals with an 18th straight victory at Melbourne Park.
Top seed Serena Williams dropped the second set before bouncing back to beat compatriot Christina Mchale 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in second-round action at the Miami Open in Florida on Thursday.
Serena Williams must navigate a heavily American quarter of the draw including sister Venus to complete a calendar sweep of the four Grand Slams, while two sensational quarter-finals loom on the men's side after Thursday's U.S. Open draw.
IMAGES from the matches played at the Miami Open on Thursday
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are top seeds at the major starting Monday
Images from Day 5 of the US Open in New York on Friday
The peak remains tantalisingly close for Serena Williams but negotiating the final incline to a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam singles title is proving the trickiest of all.
Twice winner Maria Sharapova and reigning champion Flavia Pennetta advanced to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday, though in sharply contrasting fashion.
The draw for the first Grand Slam of the season was made on Thursday and the top seeds could face some early tests of their credentials when play gets underway in Melbourne on Monday.
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