American tennis player Serena Williams is all set to make her comeback at the Australian Open, organisers confirmed.
After two years of injury frustration and bouts of depression, Victoria Azarenka is hoping a little bit of motorcycle riding and some street art will change people's perceptions and help her to a third Australian Open title. The 26-year-old Belarusian is one of the favourites for the year's opening grand slam that starts on Monday after proving her fitness following a nagging foot injury that has restricted her appearances over the past two years. Now injury free and fresh off her first title since August 2013 at the Brisbane International last week, she is looking forward to the courts she made her own in 2012 and 2013.
Defending champion Roger Federer will meet big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the final of the Brisbane International after the Swiss top seed dismantled rising Austrian talent Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4 in Brisbane.
Rafael Nadal's path to his Australian Open semi-final against Grigor Dimitrov on Friday has taught the 30-year-old Spaniard one thing -- he's still got it.
Maria Sharapova says her Australian Open preparations have gone smoothly despite her lack of recent on-court action, all barring a mix-up at the Melbourne Park laundry over a pair of leopard print underwear.
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.
Roger Federer moved to within one win of his 1,000 career victory when he crushed Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday to reach the final of the Brisbane International.
The Big Four were always going to come into the year's first Grand Slam knowing fully well that their days of dominance are drawing to a close, if not already a thing of the past, says Dhruv Munjal.
Forty years have passed since Chris O'Neil held the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup aloft as the last Australian women's champion in 1978.
The 33-year-old Swiss maestro produced a masterclass of shot-making as he thrashed Australian wildcard James Duckworth 6-0, 6-1 to charge into the semi-finals of the Australian Open warm-up event.
Grigor Dimitrov reached his first grand slam quarter-final in over two years on Monday by defeating an injury-hampered Denis Istomin 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-1 to end the Uzbek wildcard's fairytale run at the Australian Open.
As the players warm up before the tournament, meet the players who could well be contenders for the 2017 Australian Open titles.
Andy Murray has had his mind elsewhere for much of the Australian Open but will need to bring laser-sharp focus into Friday's semi-final against the red-hot Milos Raonic.
Tennis great Roger Federer has issued a tacit apology for inadvertently provoking a war of words with temperamental local Bernard Tomic ahead of the Australian Open.
While Federer and Nadal will look to reignite the flair and fight they showed to reach last year's final, 2018 could have a different script at play.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
Reigning champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have been named top seeds for the Australian Open starting on Monday.
Top seed Andy Murray could meet Roger Federer or Kei Nishikori in the third round, while Serena faces tricky Belinda Bencic in opening round
Maria Sharapova rallied to beat Kaia Kanepi on Thursday and will meet Serena Williams in the Brisbane International semi-final knowing she must drastically improve to end her run of 13 straight defeats against the world number one.
With a career Grand Slam of major titles and a sweet-making business, Maria Sharapova dismissed the idea of staying at home and having a drink.
There are no real secrets to the success of rising tennis star Milos Raonic. The towering Canadian has a booming serve that is one of the most dangerous weapons in the game.
Tomic slams 'disrespectful' Tennis Australia.
Having pulled out of the Brisbane International tournament through injury for the last two years, Maria Sharapova might consider it a victory in itself if she actually gets out on court at the Pat Rafter arena on Monday.
A late end to last season that included a successful Davis Cup final and matches in India had no impact on Roger Federer's surprise third round loss to Andreas Seppi at the Australian Open on Friday, the second seed said.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Czech defending champion Katerina Siniakova fended off Maria Sharapova in a fiercely contested match at the Shenzhen Open on Friday to set up a final with world number one Simona Halep.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic gave Australia an unwanted reputation as a breeding ground for tennis brats during a tempestuous 2015 and the pair will be firmly under the spotlight in front of home crowds at Melbourne Park. With former world number one Lleyton Hewitt set to retire and the last of his two grand slam titles at the 2002 Wimbledon championships a distant memory, Australia has long yearned for a new force in men's tennis to challenge at the majors. Tomic, 23, and Kyrgios, 20, have both been tagged as the future of the sport in the country but the excitement generated by their undeniable talent gave way to dismay last season as the pair hogged the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Journalist Peter Greste arrived in Australia and been reunited with his family after 400 days in a Cairo jail.
Garbine Muguruza's preparations for next week's Australian Open were thrown into disarray when the world number three pulled out of the Sydney International with a thigh injury on Wednesday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
A refreshed Roger Federer's clinical demolition of Jarkko Nieminen in his first match of 2014 suggested he could be a factor in the first major of the year.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
A ruthless Sorana Cirstea took full advantage of Karolina Pliskova's patchy form at the China Open on Thursday, reaching the quarter-finals as she consigned the recently dethroned world number one to a 6-1, 7-5 defeat.
Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova glittered under the Rod Laver Arena lights on Monday, restoring order at the Australian Open after eight women's seeds crashed out in the afternoon sun on a manic opening day. The evergreen Federer strolled into the second round with a classy 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 win over Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun before fellow-second seed Sharapova ruined Croatian qualifier Petra Martic's 24th birthday with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
Images from matches played on Day 5 at the Australian Open in Melbourne Park on Friday
India's Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea entered the Sydney International final after a straight sets win over Thomaz Bellucci and Leonardo Mayer, on Friday.
Top seed Agnieszka Radwanska's title defence at the Sydney International lasted just 92 minutes when she was dumped out of the second round by Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Tuesday.
Images from Day 6 of the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Saturday.
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