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.
A second title eluded Leander Paes at this year's Australian Open as he and partner Elena Vesnina ended runners-up in the mixed doubles event after being outplayed by Horia Tecau and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the summit clash in Melbourne on Sunday.
Leander Paes is in line for two titles at the Australian Open. The Indian ace and Russia's Elena Vesnina staged a grand recovery to enter the mixed doubles final, even as Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi bowed out after their semi-final defeat on Friday.
Leander Paes had a great day at the Australian Open as he reached the final of the men's doubles event pairing Radek Stepanek and also made it to the mixed doubles semifinals with Elena Vesnina in Melbourne on Thursday.
Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina overcame a fighting Eva Birnerova and Alberta Brianti 7-5, 7-5 to advance to the women's doubles pre-quarterfinals as India recorded its second straight win on the day at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Saturday.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Vesnina advanced to mixed doubles quarter-finals of the Wimbledon championships after quelling a late challenge from Eric Butorac and Olga Govortsova in London on Wednesday.
Petra Kvitova moved closer to a third straight Connecticut Open crown after defeating Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals on Thursday.
Mariamma Koshy has taken charge of Hockey India (HI) as president with immediate effect, replacing Narinder Dhruv Batra who was recently elected as the first ever non European chief of the sport's governing body FIH. He is the 15th president of the field hockey's international parent body.
For all their success together, the red dirt isn't Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis' most favourite surface.
Celebs who went overboard while making fashion statement at Cannes 2016!
Kveta Peschke and Lucie Hradecka beat Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-2 in the decisive doubles to give the Czech Republic a 3-2 win over Russia in the Fed Cup final on Sunday, clinching the country's first title as an independent nation.
Sania Mirza won her third WTA doubles title of the season, and 12th overall, when she and Yaroslava Shvedova pipped Olga Govortsova of Belarus and Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia in the final of the Citi Open at College Park on Sunday. Defending their top billing, the Indo-Kazakh pair overcame the second seeds 6-3, 6-3 after an hour and five minutes' struggle.
Australia's Alex de Minaur fought back from a set down to beat former world number one Andy Murray
The Czech Republic was enjoying a hat-trick of Wimbledon triumphs on Sunday when Iveta Benesova teamed up with Austrian Juergen Melzer to capture the mixed doubles title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Vesnina.
Bollywood fraternity is celebrating Sania Mirza's Wimbledon win as the celebs have flooded Twitter with their wishes.
Indian veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, along with their respective partners, advanced to the third round of the Wimbledon mixed doubles event after notching up straight-set second-round wins in London.
Indian tennis player Sania Mirza on broke into the doubles top-10 for the first time in her career as she gained a place after the US Open, where she made the third round along with Russian partner Elena Vesnina.
In what would come as a massive blow to India's chances at the Davis Cup, tennis ace Leander Paes pulled out of the US Open mixed doubles semi-finals due to back spasms which also makes him doubtful for the World Group playoff tie against Japan next week.
The Indian pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were knocked out of the US Open after they lost their quarterfinal match to Poland's Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in straight sets.
Russian high jumper Anna Chicherova was officially stripped of her 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medal after she tested positive for banned substances in re-tests of samples, the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday.
Sania Mirza was the only Indian player who gained a place in the latest WTA rankings to move up to 63, as almost all top players maintained their respective slots in the latest lists, issued on Monday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis lost 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 to Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Daria Kasatkina late on Thursday night.
Williams had little trouble against the 31-year-old German although the gusty breezes at Auckland Tennis Centre played havoc with her ball toss, especially when she was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set.
Sania Mirza and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina clinched their second WTA title together, lifting the Family Circle Cup doubles trophy with a straight-set triumph over Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy in Charleston.
World number one Caroline Wozniacki defeated Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-4 Saturday to set up a final meeting with Russian Elena Vesnina at the Family Circle Cup.
India's Somdev Devvarman dropped two places to 65 but ranking of all other top players of the country remained unchanged in the latest lists, issued today by the ATP and WTA.
Prajnesh, India's top-ranked singles player at 122, downed the local wild card Jason Kubler 7-5, 6-3 in the first round
Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi failed to notch up his third Wimbledon mixed doubles title as he and his partner Elena Vesnina were outplayed by Jurgen Melzer and Iveta Benesova in straight sets in the final in London.
India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Vesnina of Russia advanced to the mixed doubles final of the Wimbledon after pipping Australian Paul Hanley and Chinese Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in a gruelling three-setter that lasted close to two hours.
Leander Paes and Cara Black bowed out of the Wimbledon mixed doubles event after suffering a straight set defeat in the quarter-finals against Daniel Nestor and Yung-Jan Chan.
It was a bad day for Sania Mirza at Wimbledon on Friday. The Indian ace lost in the mixed doubles quarter-finals and women's doubles semi-finals.
Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina of Russia clinched their first title in just their third WTA event as a team, lifting the BNP Paribas Open women's doubles trophy after upstaging Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy.
It was a good day for India at the All-England Club, as Leander Paes-Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman also progressed in the doubles.
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza on Tuesday aggravated her left knee injury during her Wimbledon singles first round defeat which left her doubles title bid in disarray.
Serena Williams let victory slip from her grasp but gained plenty in defeat at the Eastbourne grasscourt tournament on Wednesday while sister Venus continued her winning return after a five-month injury layoff.
Sania Mirza of India and Ivan Dodig of Croatia bested defending champions Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Leander Paes of India 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 in the mixed doubles quarter-finals.
Sania Mirza failed to add another Grand Slam title to her collection, as she and Elena Vesnina were beaten in the final of the women's doubles at the French Open on Friday. The Indian ace and her Russian partner, seeded seventh, were beaten 4-6, 3-6 by the unseeded Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the final.
Sania Mirza stormed into her first Grand Slam doubles final. She and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina defeated the American duo of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in a thrilling three-setter in the semi-finals of the French Open in Paris on Wednesday.