Serena William powered her way to within two victories of a seventh US Open title on Tuesday and while she refused to look ahead there are many willing to do it for her, and what they see is a suddenly open path to a 24th Grand Slam.
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.
Grand Slam finalists Garbine Muguruza and Roberta Vinci stormed into the last four of the Wuhan Open in China on Thursday while Venus Williams ended the giant-killing run of Briton Johanna Konta.
Russia's Elena Vesnina ousted German second seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California on Tuesday.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova avenged her US Open loss to Anastasija Sevastova with a 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(7) victory over the Latvian in the China Open first round on Saturday.
Novak Djokovic maintained his unbeaten record against Frenchman Gael Monfils with a 6-3, 6-2 win in the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Saturday, while Japan's Kei Nishikori also reached the final after beating Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka.
Rafael Nadal was made to wait before his second-round Rogers Cup match due to several rain delays but did his part to put the schedule back on track with a speedy 6-2 6-3 win over Frenchman Benoit Paire on Wednesday.
Separated in age by 25 years, their careers overlapped only briefly and Martina Navratilova, who herself won 18 Grand Slam singles crowns, never faced Serena Williams on a singles court.
It was back in 2003 that Serena Williams first stamped her name on Australian Open history, the then 21-year-old taking down sister Venus to bring home her first title on the blue courts of Melbourne Park.
Serena Williams battled a misbehaving serve and scorching heat but stayed cool under pressure in a 7-5, 6-4 win over Czech Barbora Strycova to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday.
Top seed Simona Halep came back from 4-1 down in the deciding set to beat Elina Svitolina 6-3 3-6 6-4 in the Qatar Open semi-final on Friday, marking her first victory over the Ukrainian in nearly two years.
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.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Former men's champion Mats Wilander believes third seed Muguruza now looks like the most likely champion, having not dropped a set and thrashing Maria Sharapova on Wednesday.
"It's kind of hard to say because she -- there's nothing I did wrong on those match points," Williams told reporters after her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title ended.
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.
Coach Patrick Mouratoglou claimed Serena Williams' fitness had since gone up a notch and Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles may well be in peril at the Australian Open.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Images from matches played on Day 4 of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Thursday
Pliskova will be guaranteed toppling Germany's Angelique Kerber if she prevails against Halep who would need to go on and take the title to seize the top ranking.
List of Wimbledon women's singles champions:
Despite dominating the year by winning three Grand Slam titles in 2015, World No.1 Serena Williams believes she is playing better this year. Williams is once again on the cusp of a historic achievement. Only seventh seed Angelique Kerber stands in the way of the 34-year-old landing a 22nd singles major trophy to draw level with Steffi Graf in the history books. "I kind of relish every win and every final and every match now. I think, maybe in the past I didn't as much. I was just like going through the motions," Williams said. "Even though I was super excited, I just feel like now it's even more exciting." The world No.1 holds a 5-1 lead in head-to-head matches with the powerful leftie but Williams remains wary of the threat presented by Kerber.
The British number one will play Croatian Donna Vekic, 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(4) victor over Czech Lucie Safarova in the day's second semi-final, in the climax to the Wimbledon warm-up tournament on Sunday.
Novak Djokovic held off a Roger Federer fightback as he reached the final of the Australian Open for the fifth time in six years. Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska was taken apart 6-0 6-4 by the reigning women's champion Serena Williams.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal can take a step closer to a 50th career showdown when they play their fourth-round matches at the US Open on Sunday.
Venus Williams moved within two wins of a possible sisterly showdown with Serena in the semi-finals of the US Open by beating German 26th seed Laura Siegemund to reach the fourth round on Saturday.
Olympic champion and world number one Serena Williams tumbled out of the Rio de Janeiro singles competition in the third round on Tuesday after a shock defeat to Ukraine's Elina Svitolina.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic will face Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, the player who denied him a medal in London, in the opening round of the Rio Olympics after the draw was made on Thursday.
Britain's Andy Murray, bristling with confidence after ending a three-year wait for another Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, will seek to make history in Brazil by becoming the first man to win successive Olympic gold medals in men's singles tennis.
Simona Halep's brave Australian Open campaign but the exhausted Romanian hit a dead end in the final as she crumbled in a thriller against Caroline Wozniacki.
Serena Williams gave little away on Sunday as she assessed her chances of retaining her Wimbledon title -- and dismissed suggestions that she is under any pressure. The 34-year-old American has not struck a ball competitively since losing to Spain's Garbine Muguruza in the French Open final on June 4 - a defeat that frustrated her hopes of matching Steffi Graf's professional era record of 22 grand slam titles. Considering she also fell at the final hurdle in Australia against Angelique Kerber and went out of the U.S. Open semi-finals last year when two wins away from a calendar grand slam, Williams would be forgiven for feeling a little edgy.
Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki will compete for high stakes in Saturday's Australian Open final, having each needed to save match points to prevent a premature exit at Melbourne Park.
So prior to their Melbourne Park rematch, former champion Sharapova said she was primed and ready for another drawn out dog-fight against the 14th seed.
Coco Vandeweghe blasted her way into her first grand slam semi-final with a dominant display of power tennis to destroy French Open champion Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-0 at the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The absence of Japan's Kei Nishikori from this year's Australian Open has turned the spotlight on Chung Hyeon as Asia waits for its first men's Grand Slam singles champion.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza successfully defended her Monterrey Open title on Sunday when Victoria Azarenka retired injured from her first WTA singles final in three years.
PHOTOS from day four of the Wimbledon championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Saturday
Prajnesh, India's top-ranked singles player at 122, downed the local wild card Jason Kubler 7-5, 6-3 in the first round
Former world number one Garbine Muguruza was beaten 7-5, 6-4 by Aryna Sabalenka in the China Open second round on Tuesday while an ailing Jelena Ostapenko lost 6-0, 6-0 to Wang Qiang.
Roger Federer overcame a sluggish start to defeat Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-3 and Kevin Anderson's booming serve proved too much for Joao Sousa as the big names advanced to the fourth round of the Miami Open on Monday.
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