American Serena Williams was third time lucky as she finally equalled Steffi Graf's long-standing record of 22 Grand Slam wins after defeating Germany's Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in the Wimbledon final on Saturday.
IMAGES from the matches played during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, at Wimbledon in London on Thursday
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.
Big names and young guns turn up the heat at US Open
Former world number one Venus Williams salvaged a small bit of family pride when she fought back from a set down to see off Italy's Roberto Vinci 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(4)and reach the final of the Wuhan Open on Friday.
World No 1s Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber have been named top seeds for the first major of the season, Australian Open, which will commences on January 16.
Britain's Johanna Konta withstood a fightback by Madison Keys and third seed Agnieszka Radwanska beat Ukraine's Elina Svitolina on Saturday to reach to the China Open final.
On Wednesday the 23-time Grand slam winner took to Twitter to express her anguish.
Time is running out for Serena to reach the career milestone that has become one of the sport's longest running storylines.
Dominic Thiem claimed his first Masters 1000 title after coming from a set down to defeat Roger Federer
Angelique Kerber continued her relentless march towards a maiden WTA Finals crown with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 victory over defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska on Saturday to set up a title showdown against Dominika Cibulkova.
Dominika Cibulkova kept her hopes of reaching the last four of the WTA Finals alive with a gritty 6-3, 7-6(5) Red Group victory over Simona Halep at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Thursday.
Standing in Czech Karolina Pliskova's way of achieving a first Grand Slam title is top seed Barty who is aiming to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish for the first time herself.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza moved to the brink of the WTA Finals last four with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Angelique Kerber on Wednesday after Petra Kvitova opened her account with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over fellow Czech Lucie Safarova.
Images from Day 2 at the US Open played at Flushing Meadows in New York on Tuesday
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will be out to complete unfinished business at Wimbledon on Thursday after both were denied a chance to savour match-point glory in their first-round matches.
Ana Ivanovic recovered from an awful start to beat Kaia Kanepi at the Brisbane International on Thursday and remain on track for a glamour meeting with Maria Sharapova.
It would be hard to bet against the Williams sisters meeting in their first Wimbledon final since 2009, but Angelique Kerber and Elena Vesnina won't just be making up the numbers in the last four on Thursday. While unseeded Vesnina has described her semi-final against world number one Serena Williams as a dream, she is playing inspired tennis, bringing the guile from two doubles slams to deliver baseline power and a deft touch at the net.
Rafael Nadal reclaimed top spot in the men's ATP rankings on Monday
A fan favourite, Naomi Osaka has struggled with uneven play since she withdrew from Roland Garros earlier this year amid a public row with tournament officials over required media appearances.
Britain's Johanna Konta faces an anxious 24-hour wait before discovering whether she will make her debut at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Challengers to Serena Williams' throne have proved as fickle as a Paris spring and as the year's second grand slam starts the veteran American is again seemingly in a league of her own. The 34-year-old's charge to overhaul Margaret Court's record 24 grand slam singles titles may have stalled since she chalked up major number 21 at last year's Wimbledon. But after fine-tuning her claycourt game by winning last week's Italian Open she will begin the defence of her French Open title as the strong favourite. With twice French Open champion Maria Sharapova suspended pending the findings of an anti-doping hearing after she tested positive for Meldonium in Australia this year, the list of players capable of toppling a fully firing Williams is short.
Petra Kvitova raced to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Dominika Cibulkova in the Wuhan Open final on Saturday to capture her first title of the year with a ruthless display of power hitting.
World No 2 Rafael Nadal sailed into the quarter-finals of the China Open, his first tournament in 13 weeks, with a 6-3, 6-4 win over German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk on Thursday.
Andrea Petkovic battled back to advance to the semi-finals at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina on Friday while Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka upset yet another seed with a victory over Sara Errani.
Victoria Azarenka displayed the kind of form that could lead her to a hat-trick of Australian Open titles later this month by brushing aside German fourth seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-1 in the Brisbane International final on Saturday.
Images from all the action on Day 5 of the Australian Open
American Stephens stayed calm and saw off an increasingly agitated Angelique Kerber in the winner-takes-all night match to complete round-robin play with a spotless 3-0 record after she wrapped up a 6-3, 6-3 victory against the German.
Former Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka began her warm-up to the first Grand Slam of the year in convincing fashion with a 6-2,6-0 win over Russian Elena Vesnina in their first round match at the Brisbane International on Monday.
Djokovic continues to lead ATP Rankings
Defending champion Angelique Kerber battled her nerves and blew a match point in the second set before finally overcoming Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to reach the second round.
Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki has called for 23-time Grand slam winner Serena Williams to be seeded at next month's Wimbledon Championships ahead of the All England Club's meeting on Tuesday.
Images from Day 7 of the 2020 US Open in New York on Sunday.
The German fifth seed kicks off her campaign against compatriot Tatjana Maria on Tuesday, but could potentially face three former champions in Serena Williams, Garbine Muguruza and Maria Sharapova if she goes deep into the tournament.
Germany's experienced Angelique Kerber stands in the way of the 36-year-old American and an eighth, and arguably most impressive, All England Club singles crown which would see her match Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
Sharapova's quarter-final defeat by Williams at the 2016 Australian Open was the last competitive match the Russian played for 15 months after she received a doping ban while American Williams was on a maternity break for most of 2017.
List of Wimbledon women's singles champions:
Angelique Kerber was forced to dig deep in her WTA Finals opener before the German world number one battled past Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3 in a high-class baseline slugfest at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams face challenging early tests at the US Open following Friday's draws for the year's last Grand Slam starting on Monday.
Garbine Muguruza made an imposing start to the WTA Finals by confidently swotting aside Czech Lucie Safarova 6-3, 7-6 (4) in their White Group opener on Monday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances