A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Olympic champion Andy Murray restored some order at the Western & Southern Open by cutting down South African giant Kevin Anderson to reach the quarter-finals on an upset-filled Thursday in Cincinnati.
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.
Second seed Angelique Kerber stayed on track in her quest to unseat Serena Williams as world number one by beating Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia 6-2, 7-6(7) on Wednesday to reach the third round of the US Open.
Federer begins the pursuit of a record eighth Wimbledon title and a record 85th match win at the grass court major; Djokovic hoping to curb dismal slide
Roger Federer is keeping a lid on expectations.
After a 48-minute battering at the hands of Serena Williams on Wimbledon's Centre Court on Thursday, the last words Elena Vesnina probably wanted to hear were 'see you later'.
Serena Williams was forced to go on the attack once again to defend equal prize money after she reached a ninth Wimbledon final in a new record time. The world number one blasted Russia's Elena Vesnina off Centre Court in just 48mins 34sec, the fastest ever semi-final at the All England Club. Vesnina earned 500,000 ($649,000) by making the last four.
World number one Serena Williams kept her Wimbledon title defence on track on Sunday, downing Germany's Annika Beck 6-3, 6-0 with a crushing display of power and booming serves to chalk up her 300th grand slam victory.
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.
After a season plagued with injuries and a health scare Jelena Jankovic, perhaps more than anyone, needed the tonic of a few days soaking up the Mallorcan sunshine last week.
Halep through but Stephens exits in Cincinnati
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.
amiliar names, however, are tipped to take off with the winners' trophies. The following is a list of talking points at the Australian Open:
Angelique Kerber's first Grand Slam match since winning the Australian Open in January ended in despair after she was beaten 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 by Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in the French Open first round in Paris, on Tuesday.
Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova put the Czech Republic on the brink of the Fed Cup title with victories on the opening day of the final against Germany on Saturday.
Twelfth seed Djokovic resumed two sets to one ahead after snatching a third-set tiebreak the previous night before Wimbledon's 11pm curfew left the match on a knife edge.
Spaniard Garbine Muguruza's relationship with grasscourt tennis has not been smooth but it has blossomed so spectacularly.
Rafael Nadal gave a much improved performance to advance into the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday, dispatching Spanish compatriot and crowd favourite David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3.
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are top seeds at the major starting Monday
Serbia's Novak Djokovic is the top seed in the men's draw which includes five-times US Open champion and 17-times Grand Slam winner Roger Federer as seventh seed - his first time the Swiss has been placed outside the top three in a Grand Slam in over ten years.
Serena Williams said it was a 'great feeling' to surpass Steffi Graf as the most prolific grand slam champion of the open era at the Australian Open on Saturday and was not prepared to put a number on the haul of titles she might end up with.
Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been named top seeds for the Australian Open starting on Monday.
It proved a happy Halloween for Czech Petra Kvitova after she made the most of coming back from the dead to set up a title-match showdown with Agnieszka Radwanksa at the WTA Finals.
Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska stayed patient in the face of a barrage of big serving to advance to the last four of the WTA Finals for the third time in a row with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova on Friday.
Form guide for American Serena Williams ahead of Thursday's US Open semi-final clash against Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova:
Juan Martin del Potro continued his encouraging buildup to the Australian Open by reaching the semi-finals of the Sydney International on Thursday, but women's contender Petra Kvitova was stunned by a Bulgarian qualifier in the last four.
A summary of Tuesday's action at the US Open.
Karolina Pliskova ruined any chance of another Flushing Meadows sister showdown as she claimed a dramatic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) win over sixth-seeded Venus Williams on Monday to reach the US Open quarter-finals.
IMAGES from the Australian Open matches played on Monday
Asked which thoughts, the world number two from Constanta said: "The only one, very tough thought is one set, 3-0 up, that I couldn't take that game.
World number one Serena Williams and second seed Angelique Kerber progressed through the first round of the Rio Olympics tennis on Sunday despite windy conditions that delayed play on most of the smaller tennis courts.
A Champagne cork popped somewhere on Centre Court four games into Serena Williams's Wimbledon semi-final and while it was a tad premature, her 6-2 6-0 thrashing of Elena Vesnina suggested she could celebrating something special come Saturday. The top-seeded American will be taking nothing for granted, having seen her bid to match Steffi Graf's modern era record of grand slam titles stuck one short on 21 for a year, but it was a menacing show of strength, albeit against an overawed opponent.
Eugenie Bouchard pulled off her first win over Maria Sharapova with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 triumph in the Madrid Open on Monday in a thrilling contest full of tension after the Canadian had called the Russian a cheater following her doping ban.
It would be perfectly safe for Serena Williams to continue with rigorous training throughout pregnancy, but how quickly the 35-year-old would return to tournament tennis is uncertain.
Rafael Nadal rallied from a set down to ease past Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the Italian Open quarter-finals on Friday and set up a mouth-watering clash against long-time adversary Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday's final. Djokovic plotted a similar path to the Spanish clay-court king when the Serb lost the first set against Japan's Kei Nishikori before recovering to win 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 and seal an open-era record 51st career meeting against Nadal.
Photos from the matches played at the Miami Open on Tuesday
Swiss seventh seed Belinda Bencic was stunned by Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova while former champion Ana Ivanovic was also sent packing in third-round action at the BNP Paribas Open in California.
Russia, last year's runners-up, were unable to call on world number six Maria Sharapova who was injured
Images from Day 1 of the US Open in New York, on Monday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances