Aryna Sabalenka is the red-hot favourite at Melbourne Park, where another victory would give her a fourth major title and widen the gap in the rankings to Poland's Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff of the United States.
Petra Kvitova added another happy memory at the All England Lawn Tennis Club
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland faces Irina-Camella Begu of Romania in the opening round of the women's draw with second-seeded American Coco Gauff taking on Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.
The 19-year-old beat the Japanese wildcard 6-2, 6-2 to set up a showdown with former US Open champion Sam Stosur, who downed American teenager Madison Keys 6-1, 6-2 in the other semi at the $250,000 event on the hard courts in Osaka.
Azarenka said she believed getting vaccinated was the socially responsible thing to do
Venus Williams' return to action following a five-month injury layoff ended in defeat.
Kim Clijsters says there was much to be pleased about in her comeback match against Garbine Muguruza after the Belgian matched the pace and intensity of the Australian Open finalist before losing 6-2, 7-6(6) in Dubai on Monday. Four-time Grand Slam champion Clijsters was making her first appearance on the WTA Tour since the 2012 US Open and the 36-year-old said she is looking forward to getting more matches under her belt.
AITA President Anil Jain, who was accused of using his position for personal gains, avoided facing a no-confidence motion from the state associations only after he agreed to step aside.
The first stop on Serena Williams' farewell tour came to a quick end as she fell to Belinda Bencic in second-round action at the Canadian Open on Wednesday a day after announcing her forthcoming retirement from tennis.
Naomi Osaka has parted ways with coach Wim Fissette after four years together across two stints, the 26-year-old announced late on Friday.
While her career has featured a number of highs -- she has won two doubles Grand Slam titles and 11 WTA titles, including the Cincinnati Masters -- Garcia said she has become fixated on what she sees as her failures.
Aryna Sabalenka rose above geopolitical tumult to become the first player to claim a Grand Slam title as a neutral at the Australian Open.
ATP, WTA cancel China events, including Shenzen Finals
The Australian won a tour-leading five titles this year including her second Grand Slam.
France's Pauline Parmentier, playing her first WTA Tour final, stunned top seed Victoria Azarenka in the final of the Tashkent Open.
The two cases shocked the tennis world with many fuming at how they were handled by the authorities.
Former world number 11 Shahar Peer, the most successful Israeli woman to play on the WTA Tour, announced her retirement because of injury on Tuesday.
ATP events in Hamburg, Bastad, Newport, Los Cabos, Gstaad, Umag, Atlanta and Kitzbuhel will not go ahead as scheduled.
Angelique Kerber showed more passion in the media centre than on the court when she crashed out of last year's WTA Finals, the German angered by the format and frustrated by her inability to win the set off an eliminated opponent she needed to advance.
Ferro, who will be remembered for winning the first official tournament on tennis' return amid the pandemic, will now climb to World No 44 in the WTA rankings on Monday.
Sabalenka has always had the power and, since addressing the frequent on-court meltdowns that once blighted her career, has shown a frightening level of consistency at Grand Slams.
An outcry over the whereabouts of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai escalated on Friday as the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) said it was prepared to pull its tournaments out of China if they were not satisfied with the response to her sexual assault allegation.
Azarenka, who sits on the eight-person WTA players council, said that combating abuse was the group's top priority.
The second set saw Fruhvirtova dominate her opponent, a former Grand Slam singles semi-finalist. After a marathon opening set lasting 77 minutes, the teenager clinched it 6-2 in quick time.
Serena Williams will return to the court for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic when she competes at the inaugural edition of the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Kentucky beginning August 10, the WTA said on Thursday.
Milestones in the progress of Chinese women's tennis after Li Na won the final of the French Open on Saturday.
Factbox on Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka, who beat China's Zheng Qinwen in the Australian Open final on Saturday
India's Ankita Raina on Friday won her maiden WTA title as she and her Russian partner Kamilla Rakhimova clinched the doubles event in the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne.
'The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination, is fundamental to our Tour.'
Caroline Woznaicki produced an almost perfect display to dismantle world number one Simona Halep 6-0 6-2 at the WTA Finals on Wednesday, the Dane recording her second dominant victory in as many matches.
The ATP said that penalties and fines would apply for abuse or misuse of the coaching conditions and that the trial will be assessed at the end of the 2022 season for potential inclusion in future.
An FFT statement said it had consulted with the ATP, WTA and International Tennis Federation (ITF) to allow the Roland-Garros showpiece the benefit of an extra week.
The women's world No.1 doubles players will partner Indian ace Sania Mirza.
Russian and Belarusian players will be allowed to compete at the US Open this year but only as neutrals, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced on Tuesday.
Simona Halep, who skipped the Palermo Ladies Open last week, was making her first appearance on the WTA Tour since her title triumph at the Dubai Tennis Championships in February.
Both the ATP and WTA Tours released a joint statement saying the decision was taken in line with local authorities due to "health and safety concerns" and they were reassessing the calendar for the rest of the year.
Neha Uberoi received a wild card for the main draw of the Sunfeast Open 2005 tennis tournament to be held in Kolkata.
Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka will join Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in playing a pre-Australian Open warm-up exhibition
Serena Williams shook off the rust and a feisty challenge from Serbia's Ana Ivanovic to open the defence of her WTA Tour Finals title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the opening match of the elite eight-player tournament on Monday.
The Middle Eastern event has become the first tennis tournament outside of the Australian and U.S. Opens to offer equal prize money to both sexes.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances