A round-up of all the tennis action from around the globe.
As hosts Russia and Saudia Arabia kick off the extravaganza, Harish Kotian and Ashish Narsale assemble a fascinating FIFA World Cup quiz.
Peru advanced to the final of the Copa America and a date with hosts Brazil after beating reigning champions Chile 3-0 on Wednesday.
Brazil assumed responsibility for hosting the Copa America, South America's equivalent of the European Championship, on May 31, less than two weeks before the tournament kicked off.
The federation has confirmed that they are flying players in from their domestic league
Brazil have appointed national team coach Dunga as manager of their Olympic soccer squad.
Rio de Janeiro, on Monday enters the one-month countdown to becoming the first South American city to host the Olympics.
At its executive board meeting last year, the International Olympic Committee had made provisions for flag-bearers from both genders at the opening ceremony.
Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who missed out on an Olympic medal by a whisker in Rio de Janeiro recently, on Sunday showered praise on Thangavelu Mariyappan and Varun Singh Bhati for winning gold and bronze in the Paralympics. "You have achieved something what I could not. I would have loved to meet both of you in person," Dipa said in her congratulatory message.
Here is a compilation of some of the best photos from 2021...
Brazil got off to a winning start in their home Olympics on Wednesday when the women's soccer team beat China 3-0 in host city Rio de Janeiro. Although the opening ceremony takes place on Friday, the soccer competitions began ahead of time with six women's matches on Wednesday and another eight men's games on Thursday.
Brazil's national Olympic committee (COB) and its head Carlos Nuzman were provisionally suspended by the International Olympic Committee on Friday, a day after the 75-year-old was arrested in Rio de Janeiro in connection with a corruption investigation.
Nirmala Sheroen tested positive for the steroids drostanolone and metenolone at a competition back home in June 2018.
'If I'm honest I have to say that I'm not here for a miraculous comeback like on other occasions. I know the limitations I have physically, and we'll see later.'
Olympic champ Biles is unable to go anywhere except her hotel and practice sessions
The Australian Open champion never faced a break point and used her hard and accurate serve to dispatch Gauff.
Scaloni did not say what the injury was but he showered Messi with praise on a night Argentines took to the streets in huge numbers to celebrate their first international title 11 in 28 years and Messi's first victory with the national side.
Neymar will play in the Olympics in August and will miss the Centenary Copa America in the United States in June, his club Barcelona said on Wednesday to end months of speculation.
Rio can still pull off a dazzling Games, but organizers are scrambling to sell some 1.7 million tickets, or 28 percent of the scaled-back total made available for sale.
As a mark of its commitment to biodiversity conservation, India will host the eleventh Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October 2012.
Threatened with disqualification for not wearing vests bearing their country's name, India's boxers at the ongoing 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have got their kits replaced as required by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and will now compete without any hindrance.
Young Indian swimmers Sajan Prakash and Shivani Kataria expectedly made inglorious exits in their respective events at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
There was double joy for India at the Rio Paralympics on Saturday, as high jumpers Mariyappan Thangavelu and Varun Singh Bhati won gold and bronze. Thangavelu scripted history, becoming the first Indian para-athlete to win a gold medal in the men's high jump-T42 final, on Day 2 of the Games at the Olympic Stadium.
The world's two largest economies, the United States and China, will again win most gold medals at the Olympics and Britain will push Russia into third place in the overall standings, Goldman Sachs predicted in a survey released on Monday.
Brazil fired Dunga as coach on Tuesday, the national football confederation said, two days after his side failed to get past the group stages of the Centenary Copa America.
'The World Cup in five years and the Olympics thereafter will be the call for Brazil to resurrect Rio to its full glory,' says B S Prakash, India's ambassador to Brazil.
Star Indian shuttler PV Sindhu wished Spain's Carolina Marin a speedy recovery after she was forced out of the Tokyo Games due to a freak knee injury and said she will miss the reigning Olympic champion at the quadrennial event.
Parts of a mutilated body washed up on the sands of Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, police said, just meters (yards) from where beach volleyball athletes will compete in the upcoming Olympics.
As we prepare to cruise into the New Year, Rediff.com gives you a glance back, through photos, into all the sporting moments that made the last 12 months memorable.
Russia's Olympic team has 13 sportspeople with a history of doping, R-Sport news agency quoted Russian Olympic Committee chief Alexander Zhukov as saying on Monday.
Venezuelan BMX cyclist Camila Iachini at 8 years old is already dreaming of becoming an Olympic champion.
Brazilian football resumed after a three-month hiatus on Thursday night, with Flamengo beating Bangu 3-0 at an empty Maracana stadium in the first game of the restarted Rio de Janeiro state championship.
World number one Ash Barty was shocked in the first round of the women's singles at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday. The Australian was beaten by Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4, 6-3.
Victoria Azarenka, 31, won a bronze medal for Belarus in singles and a gold in mixed doubles at the 2012 Summer Games in London. Angelique Kerber, 33, won the silver in singles for Germany at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet the Indian athletes who will represent the country at the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The city of Rio de Janeiro cancelled the construction contract for the Olympic tennis centre on Thursday, just 200 days before the start of the games, fining the consortium responsible for delays and breach of contract for the mostly finished venue.
World soccer body FIFA has revised kick-off times for seven group matches at next year's World Cup finals in Brazil, including four in the hottest venues.
Access to Usain Bolt has been scarce for the media desperate to speak with arguably the biggest star of the Rio 2016 Games as he prepares to defend his three Olympic titles. However, a group of children from underprivileged communities surrounding the Jamaican track and field team's training base were invited to meet the reigning 100m, 200m and 4x100m champion on Tuesday (2 August).
Lego, the world's biggest toymaker, has developed a large model of Rio de Janeiro city to celebrate the host of the 2016 Olympic Games, set to open in a few days.
